Bows and Wands
by Hamsta97
Summary: Alastor Moody had no idea what he was taking on when he adopted his two orphaned nephews. Clint Barton had no idea being a wizard could give him such good friends. So when the Death Eaters return, there's a whole load of trouble coming to them in the form of arrows and wand. Read and review people!
1. The Airport

**This takes place during the First Wizarding War.**

Alastor Moody leaned against the pillar in the airport and scowled. He really didn't like Muggle technology. It mystified him as to why his sister had married a Muggle. Dumbledore was stood next to him, waiting patiently.

"Is that them Alastor?" asked Dumbledore.

Alastor followed Dumbledore's finger to see two boys making their way over. The older one was only twelve with short red hair and bright blue eyes. The smaller boy was nine with sandy blond hair and darker blue eyes.

"Are you Alastor Moody?" asked the older boy.

"I am. You must be Charles and Clint."

The older boy ran a hand through his hair. "Actually sir it's Barney."

Alastor smiled. "And it's Uncle Alastor alright? Come on, let's get you home."

Barney tugged Clint along. The younger boy was clutching a black case, too small to contain clothes. He also hadn't spoken yet. They clambered into a car that had been provided by Mundungus Fletcher and Alastor started driving. It hadn't taken him long to master it.

"So, how old are you?"

He had never met his nephews before today. He had however received the letter that his sister had died in a car crash with her husband, leaving her two sons without any other family.

"Uncle Alastor, did Mom tell you Clint's deaf?" asked Barney quietly. "He got kicked when he was seven and he lost like all his hearing."

Alastor gritted his teeth. He knew there was a reason he didn't like his brother-in-law. He spun the car and they headed for St Mungo's. When they got there, the wizard who examined Clint grimaced.

"I'm afraid this injury has been left untreated too long for me to fix it. I can, however, provide these. They're hearing aids. He just needs to put them in his ears."

So Clint did and a grin broke out onto his face.

"Barney, I can hear!"

Then Alastor drove them back to his house in London. It was big enough and soon the boys had unpacked. Alastor also discovered what was in Clint's case. A bow and set of arrows.

"We'll set up some targets for you in the garden. And watch out for the dustbins. They bite."

Clint giggled and Barney smiled hesitantly.

After dinner, Alastor clapped his hands. "Right, off to bed and tomorrow we'll buy you everything you need for Hogwarts Barney."

"Hogwarts?" said Clint, his head tilted to one side.

"The school for witches and wizards. You go when you're eleven so you'll be in second year. It's May now, too late for you to start. We'll get a tutor in to catch you up."

"Thanks Uncle Alastor."

"Bed, the pair of you."

Clint followed Barney upstairs and landed face-first in his bed. He took his hearing aids out and fell asleep almost instantly.


	2. Diagon Alley

**OK, whaddya think? **

Clint woke up and put his hearing aids in. It was so weird, after two years of near-silence that he could hear. Barney pushed the door open, grinning.

"This is so cool. Uncle Alastor says we're going to a place called diagonally to buy the Hogwarts stuff."

Clint sat up, sure his hearing aid had malfunctioned. "Diagonally? Why are we going diagonally?"

Barney rolled his eyes. "Diagon. Alley. Not diagonally. Get up and get dressed. Breakfast should be ready soon."

Clint scrambled out of bed and got dressed in a blue hoodie, purple T-shirt and jeans. He glanced around the room and frowned. It was very nice, all in cream but it needed personalising. Hurrying downstairs, Clint was greeted by the smell of bacon.

"Is that bacon?"

"Yep. Eat and let's go."

So they ate and headed out. It turned out Diagon Alley was only a few blocks from Alastor's house. They walked into a pub called the Leaky Cauldron. Clint liked it immediately, because it was loud and full of people laughing.

"Morning Moody."

"Those your sister's kids?"

"Sorry to hear about Edith!"

Clint winced on hearing his mom's name. His uncle nodded to them and they moved out behind the pub.

"Er… Uncle Al I think we're in the wrong bit. This is nothing but trash bins."

Al gave him a smile which seemed odd with his scarred face and tapped one of the bricks. Then the bricks melted away, leaving a huge archway. The three of them walked through it and Clint spun round in shock. It was amazing. There were shops everywhere selling all kinds of things.

"This. Is. Awesome!" yelped Clint.

Alastor chuckled. "Barney, you need a wand."

"Can I have a wand?"

"You have to be eleven."

Clint scowled and Barney smirked. They stepped into the shop and Clint sat on the chair. Alastor rapped on the counter.

"Ollivander!"

Ollivander appeared and turned out to be a small man with pale eyes. Clint took an instant dislike to him. Barney waved a few wands about and Clint began to get bored as nothing happened. Alastor was leaning against a wall and watching. Then Barney picked up one wand and sparks flew out.

"I do believe that is the wand." said Ollivander.

Alastor paid and they left. After buying a bunch of school books for Barney and a few extra ones for Clint, they headed into Fortescue's ice-cream parlour. Fortescue was a nice guy, decided Clint who offered to take care of Clint while Barney and Alastor finished buying the rest of the stuff Barney needed for tutoring. So Clint watched his uncle and brother head off before spinning round in the chair.

"What's your name?"

"Florean. What's yours?"

"Clint. It must be really cool owning an ice-cream parlour."

Florean smiled as Moody's nephew launched into a giggling fit at his own joke. Eventually the boy calmed down and gave Florean a broad grin.

"So where are you going when they come back?"

Clint leaned forward. "We're gonna buy me and Barn pets. Uncle Al says we can get one each. I'm gonna get a hawk."

Florean gave him a smile. "What would you call the hawk?"

Clint shrugged and got out one of his new books. Al had bought any book that looked remotely interesting. This one turned out to be about Greek myths. Florean smiled as the boy became absorbed, asking him a few questions and difficult words. Alastor and Barney reappeared and they left.

"Bye Mr Fortescue!" called Clint, skipping after Barney.

They ended up in the Magical Menagerie where Barney bought a cat and Clint bought a hawk. The cat was named Tommy and Clint named the hawk Apollo, after a name in the book.

"Alright kids, let's go home."

"Can we buy some paint? I want to decorate my room."

"Yeah me too."

So they bought paint and while Alastor was arranging a tutor for Barney, the boys were enthusiastically painting. Clint's bedroom ended up purple and Barney's was blue.

_The next day…_

Barney's tutor, a man called Aberforth Dumbledore, arrived. He had long white hair and was very tall. Clint retreated to his bedroom and let Apollo out of his cage. He also started sketching. His mom had taught him how to draw. Apollo landed on his shoulder and nipped at his ear.

"Ouch! Apollo!"

Apollo clicked his beak and swooped back into his cage. Clint rolled his eyes at the red-tailed hawk and leaned back on his bed. His fingers flew over the page and before long he'd produced a drawing of Al with all his scars and missing leg, Barney laughing, Apollo, and Diagon Alley. Al appeared.

"Hey Uncle Al."

"Al?"

Clint grinned. "Alastor's way too long. It's like three syllabubs."

Al smiled. "Syllables. Syllabub is a dessert."

"Oh. My point stands."

"Hmm. Good drawings."

"Thanks."

Al had come up for a reason. Apparently Clint had to learn some self-defence even if he didn't have a wand. It came pretty naturally to Clint and once Aberforth had left, Barney joined in.

**I know that was a bit of a filler chapter but I just wanted to show the Bartons' reaction to the magical world. **


	3. Buying Supplies

Clint woke up and stretched. He'd been living at Al's for three months now and it still surprised him sometimes. Clint had been spending most of his summer rotating between the ice-cream parlour, the park opposite Uncle Al's, the local swimming pool and Uncle Al's garden. It had a basketball net now, thanks to the persistence of Barney and Clint and three targets for archery practice.

"Clint!" bellowed Uncle Al. "Get dressed and downstairs!"

Apollo clicked his beak.

"I know. I know. I'm feeding you now." replied Clint.

After he'd dressed in the customary hoodie and jeans, fed the persistent hawk Clint took the stairs three at a time.

"Hi. We're getting my Hogwarts stuff today."

Clint pulled a face. He wanted to go to Hogwarts. It was late August now and Aberforth had declared that Barney was ready for Hogwarts. Clint was still griping about that. Alastor got to his feet.

"Let's go."

Clint grabbed the last slice of toast and followed them down to Diagon Alley. Since he'd been visiting the ice-cream parlour everyday Clint knew most of the regulars by now and was on first-name terms with half the shopkeepers on the Alley.

"Hiya Clint." said one.

"Hey."

Barney rolled his eyes and glanced down at his Hogwarts list.

"OK, so I need robes."

Alastor nodded. "Madame Malkin's."

Clint got bored very quickly, especially when Barney made friends with a boy a year younger than him, also starting at Hogwarts called Crowley.

"How come you didn't start last year then?" asked Crowley.

"We came over in May so it was too late. And we'd been raised like Muggles so I didn't know any magic."

Crowley winced. "That must have sucked."

"It did."

Clint tugged on his earlobe and wondered if Al would yell at him if he wandered off. _Yep, he would_. Eventually Barney bought his robes and said goodbye to his new friend.

"I'll see you at the train, alright?"

Barney nodded. "Sure. See you Crowley."

"Bye Barney."

They also bought a winter cloak, protective gloves, a hat, restocked Barney's potion supplies, lost Clint, bought all of Barney's schoolbooks and found Clint in a cauldron. Then they stopped in the ice-cream parlour.

"Hi Florean."

Alastor gave Clint a light slap on the back of his head. "Mind your manners!"

"Sorry. Hi Mr Fortescue."

"It's alright, you can call me Florean."

Clint grinned and hopped up onto one of the stools at the counter. The three of them ate their ice-cream in record time, even if it did take Alastor about five minutes to check that poison hadn't been smuggled into it.

_1__st__ September, King's Cross Station…_

Barney pushed the trolley along and grinned over at Clint. His younger brother was literally hopping up and down.

"You have to send me a letter every week OK?"

"OK."

"Promise?"

Barney rolled his eyes. "Promise."

Clint gave a satisfied nod. Alastor was marching along beside him. It was weird, the fact that his uncle had a fake leg. They arrived at platform 9.

"Alright, run at the wall in between 9 and 10."

Barney frowned but went for it anyway. After all, the magic world was bizarre. So he ran at the wall, and passed straight through it. The platform through the wall was crowded with people and there was a giant red train. Clint and Alastor appeared seconds later.

"Whoa! That's huge!"

Barney grinned. He couldn't wait to get to Hogwarts. Tommy meowed and blinked at him. Alastor clapped him on the shoulder. Then a familiar voice spoke in front of him.

"Hello Barney."

"Hi."

"Nervous?"

"No."

Crowley grinned. "Good. Come on, let's go find a compartment. The train's going to leave any minute."

Barney turned and gave Clint a hug. "See you Clint. Make sure you behave OK?"

Clint gave him a broad grin. "Who me? Don't be silly Barney." Then he turned to Crowley. "His first name's Charles. He hates it."

Crowley smirked. "Excellent."

Barney swatted his brother and followed Crowley, clambering onto the train. Crowley opened the window and glanced out.

"This is going to be brilliant."

As the train pulled away Clint began to wave enthusiastically.

"Don't forget to write!" yelled Clint loudly.

"I won't!"

Crowley waved over at Clint. "It's sweet how much your brother cares about you."

Barney shrugged. "I guess."

"So Charles."

OK, Barney was going to kill Clint at Christmas.


	4. Letters and Death Eaters

Barney was in the dining hall at the Slytherin table when the school owl came back. Crowley leaned over.

"I take it that's from your brother."

Barney nodded and tore it open. The owl flapped off and Barney eagerly opened the letter. Crowley glanced up at the professors' table.

"Slughorn looks pretty interested. If you tell him you've got a brother, he'll probably try and collect him when he comes."

Barney rolled his eyes. He didn't like Slughorn but he was good at Potions so the professor adored him. Snape, a sixth-year glanced over in disgust. Barney really didn't like some of the Slytherins. They made jokes about joining the Death Eaters and Muggle murder and Barney knew for a fact that Uncle Alastor had arrested someone's uncle last month.

"What did your brother put?" asked Lilith, a friend of Barney's.

Lilith had met Clint at the train station very briefly when they came back for the Christmas holidays. She thought he was cute, if a little hyperactive.

_Hi Barney, how's Hogwarts? Uncle Al says you're doing really well but I don't know how he knows. I think Dumbledore keeps telling him. Or Aberforth. Anyway, what's the food like? I want to go now! I learned my nine times tables in school this week. I don't get why Uncle Al keeps making me go to Muggle school. We get half-term at Muggle school so I get to go into the Ministry with Uncle Al. It's really cool because I can climb loads of stuff and it really annoys the wizards, especially Fudge. Uncle Al doesn't like him. Did you know that you need five newts to be an Auror? I don't like newts. Apollo pooed on one of the Ministry people last week, it was really funny. There's a really cool guy called Arthur Weasley that keeps asking me about rubber ducks. Uncle Al says he's a bit mad but so's Uncle Al, right? Uncle Al has to keep going off on hunts for bad wizards so Kingsley Shacklebolt lets me stay with him sometimes. He's a dude. How's Tommy? And Crowley and Lilith? _

_I miss you!_

_Lots and lots and lots of love, Clint. XXXXXXXXX (That's how Muggles shows kisses on cards, Kingsley says.) _

Barney grinned at his brother's letter. Clint had never mastered the art of keeping his mind on one track. He tucked the letter into the pocket of his robe and got to his feet. Crowley was laughing.

"Well, your brother certainly doesn't like to keep quiet does he?"

"I don't think it's in his vocabulary."

The first-year boy next to them, Lucien Novak, laughed. "Your brother sounds cool man. Better than my lot."

Lilith rolled her eyes. "Yeah but Michael's your brother and he's an idiot."

Michael was a Gryffindor in Barney and Lilith's year that drove them mad. He was Lucien's brother and nowhere near as funny. Barney grabbed his school bag and got to his feet.

"We'd better get going. Do you think McGonagall would ever forgive us if we were late for her lesson?"

Lucien laughed. "No. Never."

They headed off and later on, over dinner, Barney examined his brother's letter again. Why did Uncle Alastor keep leaving? Had the _number_ of Dark wizards increased?

"Move over Snivellus!" shouted James Potter, an asshole Gryffindor in sixth year.

He was smirking. Remus Lupin, his friend, gave Snape an apologetic look before being dragged off by Sirius Black.

"Jerks." said Barney.

Crowley laughed. "You and your Americanisms."

"You made that word up." said Lucien.

"Did not."

"Did too!"

Barney rolled his eyes and dashed off a reply to his brother.

_Hey Clint._

_I'm glad you're having fun. Hogwarts is great and so is the food! Last week, Lucien managed to make a cauldron explode apparently. Crowley said the entire corridor was covered in gunk. Slughorn went mad. Isn't Arthur Weasley the one that's obsessed with Muggles? And Uncle Alastor isn't crazy, he's just a little different. Don't annoy the Ministry wizards too much will you? It could make Uncle Alastor's job really difficult._

_Behave crazy hawk!_

_Love Barney x_

Clint had noticed that Barney's letters were getting briefer and briefer but he didn't mind. After all, Barney was probably just being absorbed with his friends. He'd mentioned a Crowley, Lucien and Lilith. Clint wasn't a big fan of them but he tolerated them because Barney liked them.

"Is that from Barney?" asked Uncle Al.

"Yeah. He says I have to stop annoying Ministry workers."

Uncle Al chuckled. "Don't listen to him. It's good training for later in life."

Clint nodded and grinned. He was already determined to be an Auror, like his uncle, but he was going to be the first to use a bow and arrows as weapons. And if the Ministry didn't like it they could just deal with it.

"Right, we'd better get going or we'll be late for Kingsley."

Clint spent most of his time when Barney was at Hogwarts in the same way. He was at Muggle school, shooting apples off the apple tree in Uncle Al's garden, annoying Ministry workers, hanging around the Leaky Cauldron and various shops in Diagon Alley and in the rest of the free time he had he was in the park across the road from Uncle Al's, playing the harmonica he'd been given by Arthur Weasley.

Clint was playing his harmonica in the park one day when five masked men Apparated into the park. Clint still had his bow on his back from shooting leaves off the tree. Most of the Muggle kids were still at school. Uncle Al came flying out, brandishing his staff and his wand.

"CLINT!" he roared.

The masked men turned on Uncle Al and began firing spells out of their wands. Clint nocked an arrow and took a deep breath. _It's another target Clint. And Uncle Al needs you._ So Clint aimed and let the arrow fly. One of the masked men sank to the ground and didn't get up again. Two had already slumped and Uncle Al was dealing with the other two. But Clint still nocked another arrow and fired. Uncle Al knocked the last man out and turned to look up the tree.

"Clint! Get down!"

Clint sprang out of the tree and landed on his feet. Uncle Al looked scared. Clint had never thought his uncle could look scared. Five Ministry wizards appeared. Clint recognised them as Aurors, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Rufus Scrimgeour among them.

"Moody, what happened?" asked one, Clint thought he was called Dawlish.

"Take a guess."

Kingsley smiled slightly but his smile disappeared when he saw the two arrows sticking out of the masked men.

"Where did they come from?"

"Me." said Clint suddenly.

He felt the question was fairly ridiculous, considering the fact that he had a quiver full of arrows on his back and a freaking bow. Scrimgeour gave him a surprised look but Kingsley nodded.

"Boy's got skills. How did Death Eaters find you?"

Clint blinked rapidly. "They were Death Eaters?"

Uncle Al nodded. "Two dead, three stunned."

The Aurors took the bodies and Uncle Al began to add some extra protective charms. Clint had taken his two arrows back and was still trying to wrap his head around everything.

The next morning, in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, Barney almost choked on his pumpkin juice when he read his brother's letter.

_Hey Barney. _

_I don't know if you got told at school but Death Eaters turned up in the park yesterday. I was up in a tree and they just appeared out of nowhere with loads of black smoke. They were wearing silver masks and everything. And then Uncle Al came out of the house with his wand and stick and there was loads of flashing lights. I shot two of them with my arrows. Then loads of Ministry guys came, Kingsley and Uncle Al's boss, the one whose name I can't spell. Kingsley said I did really well. Uncle Al's put a load more of protective charms up. It was really scary Barney. But I'm going to be an Auror and find all the other Death Eaters which is a totally stupid name._

_Be careful. _

_Love you lots Clint xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

Barney half-smiled at the letter and managed to read between the hastily scrawled lines. Clint was never serious, ever, so the 'be careful' combined with the random switches of topic unnerved Barney.

"What does the little hawk say?" asked Lilith.

"He and Uncle Alastor were attacked by Death Eaters. Apparently Clint shot two of them with an arrow each."

Crowley arched an eyebrow. "God your brother sounds terrifying."


	5. Hogwarts Express

Clint rolled out of bed and landed on the floor with a thump. He got to his feet and winced. Apollo made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"Be quiet."

Clint ruffled his hawk's feathers and gave him some food. Then he headed downstairs to find Uncle Al sat at the dining table, scribbling out some paperwork.

"Since when did you get up before Barney?"

Clint laughed and started adding gel to his hair in the mirror.

"We're going to buy my stuff from Diagon Alley today, right? For Hogwarts?"

Uncle Al nodded and levied himself to his feet. "I'll get your brother. You get breakfast going."

Clint nodded and started the fire. He was getting his wand today! Along with some other really boring stuff like cauldrons and school books.

"Why are you up before me? You're never up before me. You're like the laziest person on Earth."

Alastor hid his smile as Clint stuck his tongue out at Barney. The two brothers had certainly changed over the last two years. Barney, about to enter his fourth year at Hogwarts, was still fairly quiet but worked hard and was perfectly happy to tease his little brother should the opportunity ever arise. Clint, about to enter his first year at Hogwarts, was louder, chattier and incredibly sarcastic. He missed no opportunity to tease anybody and was usually smiling a thousand-watt smile at everyone and everything.

"Do you want fried egg or not? Cos I'll eat it."

"Don't you dare!" responded Barney.

Clint laughed and the three of them demolished their meal before heading out to Diagon Alley. Barney needed a new potions kit and several new books. They both bought robes, Alastor grumpily muttering that they cost him thousands of Galleons each year. Madame Malkin just laughed.

"Barney!" shouted a familiar voice.

Barney turned and grinned. "Hey Lilith. You buying your stuff as well?"

Lilith nodded. "Nothing escapes your powers of detection. Hi Mr Moody, Clint. Anyway, Luke just got away from his family so he and Crowley are at Fortescue's. Do you want to come with us?"

Barney glanced at Alastor who nodded. Barney shot off with Lilith. Clint glanced up at Uncle Al.

"So where now?"

"Ollivander's."

Clint remembered the first time he went in Ollivander's. He didn't like the wandmaker but Ollivander was the best.

"Ollivander!" barked Uncle Al.

The man arrived, looking as creepy as he did when Barney bought his wand.

"Hi Mr Ollivander."

Ollivander beamed. "Ah yes, young Mr Barton. I was wondering when I would see you again. Your brother's wand is well I take it?"

Clint shrugged. "Sure."

"Good. Yes. Willow and dragon heartstring. Excellent wand."

Then Ollivander got out a wand for Clint.

"Try this. Holly and phoenix feather."

Clint swished the wand but nothing happened. He remembered how long it had taken Barney to find his wand and inwardly groaned.

"Walnut and unicorn hair."

That was a no-go. Clint's arm started to ache after a while and Uncle Al was beginning to look impatient.

"Well, hold on a second. I'll see what's in the back." Ollivander disappeared for a while, leaving Clint wondering what happened if a wizard couldn't find a wand. He reappeared, clutching a box. "Try this one. It's the last wand my father made."

Clint opened the box and picked the wand up. Warmth shot up and down his arm and he waved it. Purple sparks shot out of the end. Ollivander beamed and Uncle Al smiled.

"Excellent. That'll be seven Galleons please."

"What's it made out of?" asked Clint, gently putting it back in the box.

Ollivander glanced over. "It was an experiment, one of the few successful ones apparently. It's birch wood and a Hippogriff tail feather."

Uncle Al raised an eyebrow but shrugged and they left. In Flourish and Botts they bumped into an arguing family.

"For God's sake Lucien! You aren't a child anymore!"

One of the other brothers replied, "I think he might be."

Lucien turned with an angry glare which softened when he saw Clint.

"Hi Clint. Barney's hanging out with Lilith." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Clint laughed. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to Hogwarts this year."

Lucien grinned. "Oh yeah. Barney mentioned it. My little brother's going this year. Aren't you Gabe?"

Gabe turned out to be a boy slightly shorter than Clint with wavy hair and bright eyes. He gave Clint a smile and stuck his hand out.

"Gabriel Novak."

"Clint Barton. Barney's little brother."

Uncle Al stumped over, having paid for the books. Michael drew himself up to his full height.

"Lucien, where's Barney?"

"Still outside Fortescue's. I think him and Lil were on a date."

Uncle Al nodded and began to leave. "Clint!"

Clint shot Gabriel a grin. "See you on the train!"

Gabriel smiled as Clint shot off in pursuit of the grizzled man. He seemed like a nice guy, full of smiles. Castiel glanced up at him.

"He seemed nice."

"Yeah."

_1__st__ September, King's Cross Station, Platform 9 ¾…_

Clint shook his head as he ran through the wall. He still hadn't gotten used to that sensation. Barney appeared right behind him as did Uncle Al.

"Let's go find you a carriage."

Barney pulled a face. "There's Lilith! Hey Lil!"

Clint grinned. "Barney and Lilith sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage!"

Lilith smirked as Barney scowled, turned bright red, and punched Clint on the arm.

"Shut up Hawk!"

Clint laughed and turned to hug Uncle Al. Apollo was getting jittery in his cage.

"I'll write every week, OK? I promise. But you have to reply."

Uncle Al rolled his eyes. "Of course I will. Go. The pair of you."

Barney and Lilith headed off to meet up with Lucien and Crowley while Clint headed over to a train car. A boy was stood by the stairs, straining to get his trunk up them.

"Hey, do you need a hand?" asked Clint.

The boy turned and gave him a relieved grin. "Please. Then I'll help you with yours. Deal?"

"Hey, you're a Yank."

"Yep. You too huh? My mom and dad died so me and my little brother got sent to live with my uncle Bobby."

Clint grinned. "Snap. Except my uncle's Al and I'm the younger brother."

The two of them pushed the trunks into a carriage and hoisted them onto a rack. Clint let Apollo out and turned to see the boy letting his cat out.

"Dean Winchester by the way."

Dean had dark blond hair and bright green eyes that seemed to stare into Clint's. They were sharp and seriously cool.

"Clint Barton."

Clint was smaller than Dean with spiked sandy blond hair and dark blue eyes that stared into Dean's. They were intense, like they'd seen stuff. The two boys flopped in their seats and began exchanging stories about getting used to Britain.

"I swear this guy asked if his pants were ripped and I was like, I don't wanna see your pants. Uncle Al had to explain that he meant trousers."

"I asked a Muggle shop assistant for a pair of sneakers and she just stared at me for ages." added Dean.

Clint laughed and then the door was pushed open. A familiar face appeared.

"Hi Clint. Do you mind if I sit in here?"

Clint glanced up. "Hey Gabe. Sure grab a seat. Gabriel Novak meet Dean Winchester."

Dean and Gabriel nodded to each other.

"Nice to meet you."

Gabriel sighed. "Another Yank. Marvellous."

Clint laughed. "Shut up Gabby. So where in America are you from? I'm from Iowa."

"Kansas." Dean saw Clint's face twitch and narrowed his eyes. "What's so funny about that?"

The other American waved his hand. "Nothing Dorothy. Tell me, do you have a dog called Toto?"

Gabriel looked slightly lost and Dean scowled.

"Shut up Barton. What does Iowa have?"

"Me."

Dean blinked twice before he started laughing. It took Gabriel a few seconds to catch on but he joined in laughing as well. Clint smirked and put his feet up on the seat. The door was pushed open for the second time and Barney and Lucien leaned in.

"You OK Clint?"

"Yeah I'm fine."

"Good."

Barney flicked his eyes over his brother's new friends. He recognised Gabriel from staying over at Lucien's but he didn't know the other kid, the one with the piercing green eyes. Of course Clint had picked someone with eyes as intense as his.

"We'll be in the next carriage."

"OK."

Clint stroked Apollo's feathers as the train pulled out of the station. Dean and Gabriel were playing Exploding Snap. Two older boys, seventh-years, appeared at the door.

"Oh for Merlin's sake. Is this entire carriage taken up?" whined one.

The boy next to him shrugged. "Come on Padfoot. Let's go find Remus and Peter."

"Fine."

The two left and a few minutes later, the cards blew up in Dean's face. Clint laughed as Dean spluttered.

"That's the third game you've lost." Clint pointed out, very helpfully in his opinion.

"The stupid deck's rigged."

Gabriel laughed. "Or you're just a sore loser."

Clint laughed again and pulled out his harmonica. He was midway through 'Miss American Pie' when the door was pushed open. A whitehaired boy stuck his head in, half-smiling with a redhaired girl.

"Hi. Do you mind if we sit here? Everywhere else is full."

Gabriel nodded. "Sure. Grab a seat. I'm Gabriel Novak, the sore loser is Dean Winchester and the hawk boy over there is Clint Barton."

Clint nodded without taking his mouth off the harmonica. The boy smiled. He was thin with white hair and blue eyes.

"I'm Pietro Maximoff and this is my sister Wanda Maximoff."

When Clint had finished his tune he said, "Are you twins?"

"Yep." replied Pietro. "I'm the older one."

Wanda gave him a mock glare. "Yeah. By five minutes."

The train ride passed pretty peacefully with Dean losing three more games of Exploding Snap and going into a sulk. Apollo flew round the carriage for a bit, curled up with Joker, Gabriel's cat and Mary, Dean's cat. Bill didn't have a pet. He didn't explain why. The talk turned to their families. It turned out Gabriel was the third of four, Pietro and Wanda were twins, Dean had a younger brother and Clint of course had an older one.

"My mum wants me to get into Gryffindor. She haven't said anything but she'd like it." said Pietro.

Dean shrugged. "Bobby didn't really talk to me and Sammy about Houses. I don't even know what the qualities are."

Gabriel explained. "Gryffindor is the home of the brave and daring. Hufflepuffs are loyal and hardworking. Ravenclaws are geniuses and Slytherins are cunning. I just don't want to be in a House Michael or Lucien are in. So it's Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw."

Clint mimicked Dean's shrug. "Barney's in Slytherin. Uncle Al won't tell me what House he was in. Says he doesn't want to influence my decision."

The food trolley came round and Gabriel jumped to his feet. He bought a huge amount of sweets and Dean bought a Pumpkin Pasty. Pietro and Wanda refused, saying they already had food.

"Whatever. I'll buy you a Pumpkin Pasty." said Clint easily, handing over his money to the trolley witch. "Can I have two Liquorice Wands, five Chocolate Frogs and a pack of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans?"

The lunch witch rolled her eyes and handed him the stuff. "Sure that's enough?"

"Yeah I think so."

They devoured their food and swapped Chocolate Frog cards. Clint had no interest in collecting them but he liked throwing them at Dean.

"Hey! Cut it out!"

Then the castle rolled into sight.


	6. Sorting

Clint hopped off the train, having changed into his robes and locked Apollo in his cage. The red-tailed hawk wasn't happy about that. Dean and Gabriel had also stashed their cats in their baskets.

"First years!" boomed a huge man. "Over here!"

The four boys headed over to the huge man who smiled down at them.

"Everyone on the boats! Four to a boat!"

Clint scrambled into the boat and grinned as Dean, Gabriel and Bill followed. They rowed towards the castle. It was huge with turrets sticking off every angle and brightly lit windows. It reminded Clint of the old medieval Muggle films his mum used to watch. Of course, he knew why she watched them now. They arrived at some stone stairs and began to walk up them. The door at the end opened and a strict-looking woman stepped out. She had her hair scraped into a bun and was glaring down at the eleven-year-olds as if they were already in trouble.

"I am Professor McGonagall, the Head of Gryffindor House. Follow me."

The group trooped after her. Clint's hand went to his throat as he tugged on the heavy silver chain. It was attached to a silver eagle with sapphires for eyes. Well, they looked like sapphires. Barney had bought it him for their first Christmas in England. It hadn't left his neck since. They were led into a small stone room while Professor McGonagall turned to leave.

"You will wait here until I call you for the test."

When she left Dean mumbled, "Does anyone know what the test is about?"

Clint shrugged and replied, "Barney said we have to put a talking hat on and it tells us what House we go into. In front of everyone. I think I'd rather shoot arrows at a target."

"Or a Death Eater." added Gabriel softly. Under Dean and Bill's questioning looks he explained, "My dad told me when Clint was nine he shot two Death Eaters with arrows."

"So?" muttered Clint. "It's not a topic I talk about."

They waited anxiously until Professor McGonagall came back. She ushered them into the Great Hall and Clint almost froze. Everyone's eyes were pinned on them. Clint could see Barney sat at the Slytherin table. He gave Clint a thumbs-up and a smile. Lucien winked at Gabriel. Dean started taking deep breaths. Professor McGonagall was stood by a three-legged stool that had a patchy old hat on it.

"Edward Abbott!"

A plump boy hurried forwards and sat down. The hat remained still for a minute before it opened the rip at its base.

"RAVENCLAW!"

Edward shot off to the silver and blue table. There was a loud cheer from the table. The group began to thin.

"Clint Barton!"

Clint took a deep breath and walked forwards. He sat on the stool and smiled faintly as Barney gave him a thumbs-up.

A little voice began to speak in his ear. "_Ah, there's cunning and patience, lots of it. Loyalty as well, maybe too much. A Barton I see. I placed your brother in Slytherin and you are very like him. Slytherin for you? No. I think not. Well then… it had better be…" _Then the hat shouted to everyone, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

Clint took the hat off, got to his feet and hurried over to the yellow and black table. The table erupted into cheers and several people slapped him on the back. Clint nodded wearily, smiling. The line continued to thin and Clint began to hope his friends would get into the same house.

"Pietro Maximoff!

Pietro darted forwards and sat on the chair. The hat stayed silent for a moment before bellowing, "SLYTHERIN!"

Pietro got to his feet and shot over to the table. Slytherin exploded into cheers and Barney clapped Pietro on the back.

"Wanda Maximoff!"

Wanda stepped forwards and sat. The hat remained silent for five minutes. People began to fidget and eventually the hat opened its rip.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Wanda hurried over. Clint shifted over and she sat next to him.

"Hey." he whispered, grinning. "I think you're what's officially known as a hat-stall."

Wanda laughed. They sat, watching the others get Sorted.

"Gabriel Novak!"

Gabriel practically skipped up the stairs and sat. The hat contemplated before screaming, "RAVENCLAW!"

The table clapped and Gabriel sent Clint a wink. The line continued to whittle down until only Dean was left.

"Dean Winchester!"

Dean gave Clint an anxious look before sitting on the stool. The hat had barely touched his head when it bellowed, "GRYFFINDOR!"

Dean headed over and sat at the red-and-gold table, giving Clint a grin. Dumbledore got to his feet.

"May I remind students the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds to _everyone_. Also, Mr Filch has asked me to remind you all that magic is forbidden in the corridors. Now, eat!"

They dove into their food and Clint wondered what Uncle Al would do in this situation. After all, he only ate food prepared by himself, Clint or Barney. The talk turned to families.

"Mine are pure-blood." said one girl, Bobbi Morse.

"And me." added Wanda.

John Thomas, a dark-skinned boy added, "I'm half-blood. Dad's a pure and Mum's a Muggle-born."

"Half and half." replied Clint tonelessly. "Mom was a pure-blood and Dad was the biggest Muggle you ever met."

"You're American!" cried Bobbi.

Clint raised an eyebrow. "Yeah I know."

He didn't like talking about his family.

"So how come you're here then? And not at Salem?" asked John.

"Only living relative lives here. So me and my brother live here."

"Who's your relative?" asked Bobbi.

God Clint hated nosy people.

"Alastor Moody."

"The Auror?! That's so cool!"

"Yeah I think so."

They finished their food and headed off to their dorms. Clint followed the Hufflepuff Prefect down past the kitchens and watched as the Prefect opened the door by tapping on the middle barrel. They filed inside and Clint decided he loved being a Hufflepuff. The round room _felt_ sunny with a huge fire and low ceilings. Plants were everywhere and copper things were everywhere.

"Your dorms are through here."

Clint arrived in the room and looked around. John and another boy, Finnick, began to make their beds.

"This is so cool." said Finnick happily.

Clint returned the smile and got into his bed. He took his hearing aids out and put them on the bed. Then he closed his eyes and began to wish he was back at home with Uncle Al wishing him goodnight.

Dean, across the school, was also wishing he was back at home. He missed Sammy.

Gabriel on the other hand, was delighted about not being at home, stuck with his workaholic father and his insane brothers. He did feel a little sorry for Castiel, being at home with only their father.

Pietro wanted to check on Wanda. He didn't like being separated from her.


	7. First Day

Clint headed down to breakfast in the Great Hall with the other Hufflepuffs. Wanda was walking next to him.

"So we get our schedules today, yes?"

"Yeah. This should be fun."

Wanda laughed. They arrived at the Hufflepuff table and Professor Sprout appeared, handing out timetables.

"Are you Clint Barton?"

"Yes Ma'am."

Professor Sprout smiled. "Professor will do Mr Barton. Here's your timetable. There you go Miss Maximoff."

Clint flipped his timetable over and frowned. "What day is it today?"

"Friday."

Clint consulted his timetable and discovered he had Charms first with Wanda.

"Any ideas where it is?" asked Wanda.

Clint shrugged and headed over to Barney when breakfast was over.

"Hey Clint. How was your first night?"

"It was OK. This is Wanda."

Pietro came bouncing over and gave Wanda a hug.

"What have you got first?"

"Charms. You?"

"History of Magic."

Pietro left and Clint turned back to Barney.

"Could you show us where the Charms room is?"

Barney glanced at Lilith and shrugged. "Sure. I'll meet you at Transfiguration."

Lilith nodded and left. Clint opened his mouth and promptly closed it when Barney shot him a warning glare. They trailed after him and Barney stopped at the top of the corridor.

"It's just down there. Don't forget to write Uncle Alastor."

Clint rolled his eyes. "How could I? You never give me a chance."

Barney gave his younger brother an affectionate cuff over the head before glancing at his watch.

"Ah, I've gotta go. McGonagall will kill if I'm late on the first day. See you later!"

Clint waved as Barney shot off and followed Wanda down to the Charms corridor. The other Hufflepuff first-years were milling about as was Dean with some Gryffindors.

"Dean!"

Dean turned and his face split into a grin. "Hey Clint. Have you got Charms as well?"

Clint shook his head. "No. This is Transfiguration."

For a second Dean's face paled but the others snickered and Dean laughed.

"Liar."

"Truther."

Wanda muttered something along the lines of 'crazy American boys' but Clint ignored it and leaned on the wall next to Dean.

"This is gonna be really cool. Uncle Al taught me a couple of basics but I didn't have a wand to try them with and neither of them would lend me the wand."

Dean pulled a face. "I just skimmed my books and prayed it wouldn't be too difficult."

"Enter!" squeaked a voice.

Clint, Dean and Wanda tailed into to find a tiny man stood at the front on a pile of books. He was beaming.

"Good morning! I am Professor Flitwick! Sit down, sit down!"

Clint and his friends found a spot at the back. For the first hour Flitwick talked them through the correct hand movement and pronunciation of the Levitation Charm. Then he handed them out a feather.

"Now, practise _without_ your wands a few times to remember the movement and repeat the incantation. And remind Wizard Baffario who said s instead of f and ended up with a buffalo on his chest. Then try it! Off you go!"

Dean tried a few times as did Clint. Wanda looked uncertain, as if she expected the feather to blow up. _BOOM!_ John's feather had blown up. _Huh. Who knew feathers could explode so loudly?_ thought Clint. He picked up his own wand and took a deep breath.

"Wingardium Leviosa."

To Clint's shock the feather began to rise. Dean stared at him, eyes wide.

"Dude. I think you might be a wizard."

Clint laughed and his feather sank. He quickly lifted it up again and Dean twisted round in his seat.

"Professor Flitwick! Clint's done it sir!"

Flitwick turned and his mouth dropped. "Merlin's beard, congratulations Mr Barton!"

Clint grinned as he let the feather fall. Dean clapped him on the back, smiling broadly.

"That's so cool man."

Wanda laughed. "It's true. That was really cool. Have you been practising?"

Clint shook his head. The lesson ended and the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs trooped off to Herbology.

"That was seriously awesome. I think you could be like a Charms Master." enthused Dean.

Clint laughed. "Because I did one charm? It was probably a fluke anyway."

"Yeah right." replied Wanda. "You've got skills."

"You've been spending too much time with Americans." replied Clint lightly.

They arrived at the greenhouse to discover Professor Sprout was already there, waiting patiently.

"Ah there you are. Come along. Today you'll be learning how to recognise and _avoid_ the Venomous Tentacula. Avoid. Do I make myself clear?"

Dean muttered to Clint, "Why would you want to go near something venomous?"

Clint replied, "I hang out with you don't I?"

The Gryffindor swatted Clint and was promptly told off by Professor Sprout.

"Mr Winchester! Mr Barton! Do I have to separate you?"

"No Professor." they chorused.

"Hmm."

The rest of the lesson passed in relative peace, especially when Wanda stood in between Dean and Clint. Then they headed out to wash their hands and eat lunch at the Great Hall. Pietro and Gabriel caught up to them just outside the Great Hall.

"How was Charms?"

"Amazing. Clint did the Levitation Charm without even trying." replied Wanda.

Gabriel gave him an impressed look. "That's really good. And that's coming from a Ravenclaw and everyone knows how clever we are."

"I'll make you levitate in a minute." threatened Clint jokingly.

They headed into the Great Hall, grabbed their lunch and slipped out again. They ended up sat on the stairs leading up to the rest of the castle, watching the other people file in and out. Clint was perched on an alcove in the wall where a vase or something had presumably sat. Dean was sat on the stair just below, leaning against the wall while Pietro and Wanda were sat next to each other against the banister. Gabriel was perched on the stair beneath them all.

"Hey Clint, are you going to tell your uncle about the Levitation class?"

Clint nodded. "Yeah on Sunday. I thought I could tell him all about my weekend as well. Barney keeps telling me all about Hogsmeade."

"Well isn't he an arse?" said Gabriel, laughing. "Lucien wouldn't shut up about it either until Michael told him to."

Pietro shook his head. "Your families are complicated."

"Just a little."

Then the bell rang and the quintet got to their feet. Clint ruffled Dean's hair to annoy him and checked his timetable.

"OK, we're on Transfiguration. What about you guys?"

Gabriel glanced down at his timetable. "I have Transfiguration as well."

"This way." called a fifth-year. "If you're lost."

"Thank you!" replied Wanda.

The two boys followed her and the fifth-year up to the Transfiguration classroom.

"Thank you." Clint and Gabriel chorused.

The fifth-year smiled and left. Then they walked in and sat at the back again. Professor McGonagall left them in no doubt that she was not a witch to be messed with. She also amazed everyone by changing a desk into a pig and back again.

"Hey Gabby," whispered Clint quietly, "that looked like you."

Gabriel glared at him but didn't respond. McGonagall handed out matchsticks and requested that they turn them into needles. It was hard work but by the end of the lesson Clint was sure his matchstick had a silver layer. Of course, he could have just been going crazy. Which was a viable option. Wanda was having the same difficulty as Clint.

"Is it me or has the matchstick gone slightly silver?"

Clint frowned. "Looks like it."

Gabriel however, was red in the face and quietly mouthing words Clint was fairly sure he hadn't picked up in any textbook, unless it was Lucien's. After the lesson they checked their timetable again while listening to Gabriel bitch about how much he hated Transfiguration.

"Gabby, take a chill pill man. You can't be top of the class in everything." reasoned Clint.

Gabriel scowled. "Whatever. I need to go to Herbology."

Wanda and Clint arrived at the Defence Against the Dark Arts class to see Gryffindors.

"For God's sake Deanna. I know I'm awesome but you're turning into a stalker."

Dean turned and laughed. "This isn't right. Somebody screwed up the timetable."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Do I have to sit between you two again?"

"No." they replied in unison.

John, another Hufflepuff, chimed in, "It's really creepy when you two do that."

The door opened and a teacher appeared. He had short close-cropped brown hair and sharp brown eyes.

"Enter."

So they filed in. The teacher stood, arms folded watching them. His classroom was full of books and even a sword.

"I am Jacques Duquesne. I will be teaching you how to defend yourselves against the Dark Arts. As I am sure you are all aware, except perhaps for the Muggles among you, that we are at war with a powerful Dark wizard known as the Dark Lord and his loyal Death Eaters. I intend to arm you with the knowledge to protect you from them and all the foul creatures that work for them. To begin, we will practise the Disarming Charm. Get into pairs."

Dean and Clint paired up while Wanda teamed up with another Gryffindor boy called Bill Weasley.

"Practice just moving your wand first. Then put your wand away, _away, _Winchester do you not understand what that means? And then repeat after me, Expelliarmus."

The class repeated the incantation until Duquesne was convinced they could all pronounce. Then they were allowed to get their wands out.

"Choose who goes first."

Clint glanced at Dean who shrugged. "You can go if you want."

Dean grinned and lifted his wand. When Duquesne shouted, "NOW!" Dean performed the spell and caught Clint's wand in his hand triumphantly. Others hadn't faired quite so well. Bill was holding Wanda's wand and looking suitably pleased while others had singed clothes and some were wincing.

"Nice one Deanna."

"Don't mention it _Claire_." replied Dean as he handed the wand back.

They switched and Clint performed the spell on Dean, catching the wand in his hand. Dean gave him a grin. Duquesne looked bored and began to correct the ones that had got it wrong. The lesson moved on with them practicing the Disarming Spell time and time again.

"Alright, this time you're both going to try and get your opponent's wand using magic. You are not to touch each other physically. Go."

Dean moved quicker but Clint managed to duck.

"Expelliarmus!"

Clint dived behind the desk, stuck his hand back up and shouted, "Expelliarmus!"

Dean swore and his wand clattered to the floor. Clint went to grab it but Dean hurled himself on it and pointed his wand.

"Expelliarmus!"

Clint winced as the spell grazed him. The wand nearly fell but Clint tightened his grip. The two of them continued ducking, diving and hitting each other. Clint's hits were more accurate but Dean hit more.

"Enough!" bellowed Duquesne.

Clint and Dean were slightly out of breath. Most of the others hadn't moved. Duquesne looked thoroughly unimpressed but dismissed them with a homework essay on the Disarming Spell.

"Nice duelling with you." said Bill smiling.

Wanda laughed. "You too. Even if I was rubbish."

Bill laughed and headed off with his friends. Wanda walked over to Clint and Dean who were packing up and squabbling.

"I beat you dude." said Dean.

"Did not. I way whipped your lousy ass."

Dean snorted. "I hit you more."

"Yeah but I never missed."

The two of them were still arguing on the way to the Great Hall. Wanda was tempted to hit them both over the head. Thankfully Dean went to the Gryffindor table and Clint and Wanda headed over to the Hufflepuff one.

"I was thinking we could go to the library and start Professor Duquesne's homework." said Wanda.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Fine. We'll grab Dean, Gabe and Piet."

They finished eating and headed off. The librarian, Madam Pince, glared at them and pointed them in the right direction. Clint recognised some of the books that his Uncle Al owned.

"The Dark Arts: Pure Evil or Defensive Meccas." read Dean aloud. "Huh. I bet a Death Eater wrote that."

Gabriel leaned over. "That says Mechanisms. Not Meccas. That's a holy place for Muslims."

Dean flushed and Clint gave him a grin, pushing the textbook in the middle. Before long the essay was hastily completed and the group left.

"I mean, who sets homework on the first day?" ranted Clint as he nestled into the alcove. "It's totally unreasonable. And I have to find a spot for archery."

"Why?" asked Dean.

Clint glanced down. "Because I'm awesome at archery but I need to practice."

Gabriel rolled his eyes at his friends and glanced up as he heard a familiar voice. _Michael. Wonderful_. His older brother stopped and frowned down at him.

"You shouldn't be hanging out on the stairs."

Dean answered, "We can't all hang out in our common rooms or the Great Hall and we have to be quiet in the library."

Michael narrowed his eyes at Dean and kept walking. Clint stuck his tongue out behind him and mimed hexing him. Gabriel stifled a grin. Then another familiar voice came down.

"Whatever you say O Masterful American."

Lucien. Barney was laughing as he came down the stairs. He stopped when he saw his younger brother crouched on an alcove laughing with a Gryffindor, a Hufflepuff, a Slytherin and a Ravenclaw. Well, Clint never did like to be normal.

"Hi Clint."

"Hey Barn. Guess what, guess what?"

Barney grinned. "What?"

"I was the first to do the Levitation Charm in the class!"

The Gryffindor boy added, "He was the only one in the class."

"Impressive." said Gabriel, grinning. "Even for a Ravenclaw."

"I will levitate you." said Clint, fingering his wand.

Barney rolled his eyes at his little brother. He was crazy. Lucien was fidgeting and eying a Ravenclaw girl in Barney's year.

"I'll see you later. Don't…"

Clint joined in, "Forget to write to Uncle Al. I won't! Jeez, you're such a worrywart."

Barney ruffled his hair and left, dragging Lucien with him. He could hear his brother howling with laughter at whatever the Hufflepuff girl said. He'd ask Pietro later who they were.

"Seriously, I had a mark on my pants and I was asking this guy if there was anything there cos Barney and Uncle Al were buying robes and he just kept blushing and stammering. You _Briddish_ are real prudes."

Pietro rolled his eyes. Clint was grinning broadly and bickering with Dean over which was better; Kansas or Iowa. Dean's argument was that Kansas was more famous and had more stuff happening in it, like tornados. Clint was that Iowa was the birthplace of the greatest wizard in history, Clint. Eventually it was nine o'clock and they filed off to their respective common rooms.

In his dorm Clint began levitating his dorm mates' pyjamas, leading to plenty of swearing from John and Luke. Danny just rolled his eyes and gave Clint a shove.


	8. Target Practice and Letters

Alastor was about to leave the house when Apollo swooped onto the windowsill. He chirped indignantly when he realised the window was shut. Alastor opened it and rolled his eyes as the hawk landed on the table.

"You realise I eat there?"

The hawk gave him a smug look and Alastor reminded himself that it was a bird and not actually Clint in an Animagus form. Apollo stuck his leg out and Alastor untied the two letters. One was from Barney, briefly detailing his first week and talking about how much harder his lessons were. Then there was Clint's.

_Hey Uncle Al. _

_Hogwarts is awesome! I'm in Hufflepuff! Go Badgers! I found a place to practise archery. It's just behind Hagrid's hut and he said it's fine for me to use. He keeps giving me loads of advice on how to look after Apollo properly. And we set up a range. Hagrid taught me how to use a crossbow as well but I prefer the recurve bow. _

_I've made loads of friends. In Hufflepuff there's Wanda Maximoff, John Thomas, Luke Cage and Danny Rand. I keep levitating John, Luke and Danny's stuff. They get really annoyed. And I hang out with Gabriel a lot, Lucien's little brother. He helped us with our homework cos he's a Ravenclaw. And there's Pietro, that's Wanda's twin brother. He's a Slytherin so I think Barney knows him. But my best friend's Dean Winchester. He's from America as well, Kansas. He lives with his uncle Bobby. He's really funny and cool. He says it's awesome that I can play the harmonica so I said I'd teach him. And he doesn't mind that I'm deaf. _

_I was the first to do the Levitation Charm in Charms class. I was the only one that did it in our first lesson. DADA's really cool but I think Professor Duquesne is crazy. Charms is really easy, even the essays! Most of the time in DADA we just learn about dangerous creatures and then practise the spells. But it's definitely my second-best subject. Herbology's great but everything Dean touches dies. Transfiguration is my worst. Or History of Magic. I can't decide. History's definitely the most boring. Potions is pretty cool even if the fumes reek and Slughorn is a walrus. _

_What House were you and Mom in? I love you lots. _

_Clint xxxxxxxxx_

Alastor chuckled as he read it. Clint's mind hopped from one thing to another. Still, he was enjoying himself. Alastor hadn't told them his House, his paranoia preventing him. He glanced at his watch and decided Scrimgeour would probably forgive him for being late. He picked up parchment and a pen. Apollo was pecking at a rind of bacon Alastor hadn't thrown away.

"Bloody bird."

He answered Barney's with a few details about bringing down a Death Eater and offered to help him out over the holidays with the schoolwork. Then he answered Clint's.

_Hi Clint,_

_Your mother and I were both in Hufflepuff so well done on keeping up the family tradition! Don't mention it to anyone else though, constant vigilance! _

_I'm glad you found a place for archery but keep trying with the crossbow. Versatility is a wizard's best weapon. Hagrid's one of the best with caring for creatures so listen to what he says. Your friends sound nice. You'll have to introduce me when I pick you up at the Christmas break. Congratulations on the Levitation Charm. I'll teach you a few jinxes and hexes when you and Barney come back. _

_Love Al x_

Clint grinned as he read the letter. Then Dean called from the bottom stair and Clint headed down. He was going to show Dean his archery skills. The Gryffindor was tapping his foot impatiently.

"Let's go dude."

"Sorry dude." replied Clint, grinning.

Apollo was on his shoulder and showed no signs of leaving. They headed over to Hagrid's hut to see the Gryffindor boys who'd visited them on the train bickering amicably.

"Shut up Moony! Oh, hi ickle firsties."

Moony rolled his eyes. "Sirius, stop being a pain."

Sirius clutched his heart, feigning hurt. "Remus, how dare you?"

Dean laughed. "Clint, this is Sirius Black and Remus Lupin."

Remus gave them a smile and Sirius asked, "Why are you hanging out round Hagrid's?"

"Because we can." replied Clint, stroking Apollo's feathers.

"I like your hawk." said Remus, stretching his hand out.

Apollo tilted his head on one side and then allowed the older boy to stroke his feathers. Clint grinned. Then the two seventh-years left and Clint and Dean headed to behind the hut. Apollo chirruped in Clint's ear and then flew into Hagrid's hut. Clint picked up his bow from the chest where Hagrid kept it and nocked an arrow.

"Did you know that Lupin guy is a werewolf?"

Dean blinked. "How do you know?"

Clint turned to look at Dean and then let the arrow fly. It buried itself in the bullseye.

"Apollo told me. He's got a very good sense of smell."

Dean raised an eyebrow and then glanced over at the target.

"Lucky shot."

Clint bristled and nocked three arrows this time, taking a deep breath and turning to lock eyes with Dean as he released the arrows. Dean turned to watch the arrows while Clint nocked another arrow. All three sank into the bullseye. Dean let out a long low whistle.

"Damn Clint, that's some skill."

"Thanks. Do you want a go?"

So they tried but it turned Dean was terrible with a bow. Clint wondered if they could smuggle a shotgun in for him to try.

Clint told his Uncle Al all of this, including his thoughts on the shotgun and whether Dean was better at sheer brute force rather than any particular precision like Clint. The next morning, Clint got a long package and he recognised the shape right away. Dean had a shotgun. He found it slightly ironic that the shotgun was a Winchester.

Dean turned out to be very skilful with a shotgun, blasting holes in the targets with ease. Clint mastered the Repairing Charm in hours and before long he could fix any damage Dean made to the target.

Life continued like this until the Christmas holidays. Dean and Clint did target practice every weekend while their friends watched and admired. They usually begged and bribed Gabriel to help them out with their homework. Barney was unaware of his brother's continued practising.

_King's Cross Station, Platform 9 ¾, end of the autumn term…_

Clint scrambled out of the train and held Mary's cage while Dean hopped out.

"Come on. Uncle Al wants to meet you."

Dean headed after his friend and stopped as Barney halted in front of a man. Clint threw his arms round the man and turned.

"This is Dean. This is my Uncle Al."

Dean's first impression was that someone had carved the man's face out of wood and added too many scars. A piece of his nose was missing and his eyes were small and brown. He also had a fake leg.

"Nice to meet you sir."

"You too."

Bobby appeared with Sam. "Alastor."

"Bobby."

The two older wizards clearly knew each other. It turned out they were both Aurors. Barney looked supremely bored while Dean and Clint swapped Christmas presents. Clint also got a birthday present.

"Thanks Dean!"

Dean shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "See after the holidays. Happy Christmas."

"Happy Christmas."

Gabriel passed them with Lucien, Michael, Castiel and their father.

"Happy Christmas guys!"

Pietro and Wanda had already disappeared. The Winchesters and the Bartons went their separate ways at the car park.


	9. Holidays

**Like it? Hate it? Indifferent? Let me know!**

**I own the story line, a few random minor characters and three cats. Dean and all his Supernatural friends belong to Eric Kripke. Clint and his Marvel associates belong to Stan Lee and the rest of the Marvel crew. The settings, Alastor and all his magical companions belong to JK Rowling. As you all know. So this entire disclaimer was pointless. **

Clint woke up with a surge of excitement and shot downstairs, deliberately thumping to wake his relatives up. Apollo was fluttering over his head. Clint began to cook breakfast, knowing from previous Christmases that Uncle Al made them eat before opening their presents. Barney appeared a few minutes later, lured down by the smell of bacon.

"Is that bacon?"

"No. It's Tandoori owl."

Apollo squawked indignantly and perched on Clint's shoulder. Barney rolled his eyes and sat down at the table. Uncle Al appeared and sat next to Barney. Clint put the food on the table and wolfed it down, leaving Apollo the bacon fat. Then they shot into the living room. Alastor followed them, wondering if they ever stopped running round the room screaming 'He's been! He's been!'

"This one's yours Clint. From Gabriel."

Clint pounced on the present and opened it, grinning. It was a massive box of Chocolate Frogs with a note saying 'Throw all the cards at Dean!' Pietro and Wanda had bought a big box of Bertie Botts' Every Flavour Beans and Dean had bought a small animated badger. Barney had provided a cuddly toy hawk and Alastor had bought a silver chain necklace with a heavy silver hawk on it. It also had sapphires for eyes.

"Thank you!"

The holidays were quiet with Clint and Barney doing their homework. Alastor however, was growing uneasy. The Death Eater attack two years ago had unnerved him even more. Now Aurors were reporting attacks by Death Eaters near their homes. Alastor knew Clint and Barney would be at risk so he was determined to teach them some basic defence. Barney already knew a few hexes and jinxes but not enough in Alastor's opinion.

"Alright, I'm going to teach you a few jinxes."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "Constant vigilance right?"

"Right. Try the Jelly-Legs Jinx. Locomotor Wibbly. Go on, duel with each other."

Barney pointed his wand at his brother. "Locomotor Wibbly!"

Clint dived to the side and as he rolled he pointed his wand at his brother and repeated the incantation. The jinx hit and Barney began to wobble round.

"Melofors!"

Clint knocked the jinx back with a flick of his wand and followed up with, "Expelliarmus!"

Barney managed to throw himself to the floor and tightened his grip on his wand.

"Rictumsempra!"

Clint collapsed to the ground, giggling hysterically. He barely managed to get out another Disarming Charm but Barney managed to dodge.

"Ventus!" added Barney, hoping to finish his brother off.

Clint had managed to recover from the Tickling Charm and was now edging closer. He knew magic was his only way out since his brother had three years of height and weight on him. But Barney also knew more magic. Clint eyed a pot behind his brother and a plan formulated in his mind.

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

Barney snorted as the charm sailed past him. It would take a fourth-year at least to levitate a human. Clint was getting desperate and Barney knew it. Then he felt something heavy hit him over the head and he crumpled.

"Yes!" cried Clint triumphantly, making sure he could stand.

Alastor smiled and repaired the pot. He was glad he'd thought to take them into a room of fully reparable objects. He revived Barney who sat up and looked slightly annoyed.

"Ass."

"Thank you." said Clint, deliberately missing the sarcasm.

Uncle Al also taught them the Knockback Jinx, Shield Charm and the Stunning Spell. Clint mastered them quickly, practising them on Barney and Uncle Al. Barney was best at the Shield Charm, far better than Clint, though he was worse at the Knockback Jinx and Stunning Spell.

Clint's birthday was the day before he headed back to Hogwarts. So they celebrated it by eating at the Leaky Cauldron, even if Uncle Al did take his own food, and the regulars sang 'Happy Birthday' to Clint. He was still a very familiar face, wandering in and out of Diagon Alley throughout the holidays.

On the train back to Hogwarts Clint, still wearing his hawk necklace, told his friends every minute detail of the duel with Barney, played two new tunes on his harmonica and threw Chocolate Frog cards at Dean. The others hadn't had such interesting holidays although Dean had also learned two new spells, the Full Body-Bind Curse and the Jelly-Brain Jinx. He swapped the incantations with Clint. The train rolled on, stopping at Hogsmeade.

"Hogwarts and homework here we come." said Clint in an overly-enthusiastic voice.


	10. Duels

Clint walked into his Defence class on Friday, half-way through the term, and instantly felt something wasn't right. For one, Duquesne looked way too happy and for another Wanda looked thoroughly unhappy.

"Alright class, now that you're all here. Today you'll be practising duelling with all the spells you know. I'll pair you up and whoever wins earns fifteen points for their House."

There was a murmur of excitement at that. Duquesne never gave out points. Then he began announcing the pairs.

"Wanda Maximoff and Bobbi Morse."

Bobbi was a stuck-up selfish spoilt pure-blood that believed she was better than everyone else. She was also a Gryffindor and Clint felt real sorry for the Gryffindors that were in every class with her. They faced off, wands out.

"Expelliarmus!" cried Bobbi.

Wanda dodged as did John, sat right behind her. Wanda retaliated with a Tickling Charm and, while Bobbi was prostrate on the ground, disarmed her expertly. The duel lasted three minutes and Clint wasn't even sure it was worth fifteen points.

"Bill Weasley and Luke Cage."

Bill and Luke were more evenly matched and their duel lasted for ten minutes but Luke won ultimately by punching Bill. He apologised after the fight.

"Thirty points to Hufflepuff." whispered Clint to Dean. "I'll bet you ten Sickles Hufflepuff get more points."

Dean muttered back, "Ten Sickles says I beat you if we fight."

Clint narrowed his eyes but accepted it. "Hang on, that means if I beat you but Gryffindor gets more points, neither of us pays."

Dean shrugged. The fights wore on, with 3 victories to Gryffindor and 2 to Hufflepuff. Then Duquesne read out the next pair.

"Dean Winchester and Clint Barton."

Clint and Dean exchanged grins, jumping to their feet and stepping into the ring. The rest of their class drew back, talking excitedly. The two Americans were the best in the class at Defence.

"Ready, set, go." drawled Duquesne, sounding bored.

Clint moved first. "Flipendo!"

Dean was hurled backwards, slamming into the wall and nearly one of his classmates. Clint didn't waste a second, moving in for the kill.

"Expelli-"

He was cut off by Dean waving his wand and yelling, "Petrificus Totalus!"

Clint flung himself to the side, barely avoiding getting hit.

"Locomotor Mortis!"

Dean's jinx sailed past, hitting Danny square in the chest. Clint retaliated with the Disarming Charm. The wand left Dean's hand but the Gryffindor hurled himself through the air, grabbed the wand and landed heavily. He stumbled but recovered himself.

"Incendio!"

Clint glanced down and realised Dean had set his robes on fire. He shot a Stunning Spell at Dean who deflected it. Clint shrugged the robes off and barely dodged the Jelly-Brain Jinx Dean sent his way.

"Locomotor Wibbly!"

Dean's legs began to shake and he used one of Clint's tricks.

He whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa."

Clint dodged the blast of light but hadn't heard what spell Dean had used.

"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Dean.

While Clint was busy dodging that curse, the textbook Dean was levitating crashed down on Clint's head. Dean felt a twinge of guilt when his friend hit the floor like a sack of potatoes. It didn't last long.

"Fifteen points to Gryffindor."

Dean sat next to the unconscious Clint and received the praise of his fellow Gryffindors happily. He was officially the best in the class.

"Ow." muttered Clint as he opened his eyes.

Dean was sat next to him, twirling his wand. The last pair had stepped up. Clint sat in a more upright position and winced.

"What the hell man?"

"Used a Levitation Charm on _The Dark Arts: A Guide to Recognition and Prevention_ and slammed it down on the back of your head while you were dodging the Full Body-Bind Curse."

Clint rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks a bunch. The book is like 500 pages thick. What's the score anyway?"

"Hufflepuff 4, Gryffindor 4. This fight settles it. You're gonna owe me 20 Sickles."

Clint felt close to swearing. _That's over a Galleon! _He had five Galleons which Uncle Al had said he could use for bets but he'd better not lose them. He could always cadge some off Barney. The fight was between Danny and Anna Milton, a Gryffindor girl. The fight was quick but fierce. Anna and Danny were equally skilled but Anna tripped and Danny took his opportunity.

"Alright, the final score is 5 to Hufflepuff and 4 to Gryffindor. Now go."

So they did, Clint quietly rejoicing that he didn't have to shell out a Galleon.

"Honestly, you two take Defence way too seriously." said Wanda. "I mean, you set Clint on fire!"

Pietro laughed. "You set him on fire?"

"Yep."

Gabriel rolled his eyes. Dean and Clint were constantly hexing each other. They were back in their usual spot, with Clint in the alcove. Clint was twirling his wand and occasionally jinxing people on the corridors above and below.

"There's something wrong with you." said Pietro.

Pietro loved watching Clint and Dean hex or jinx innocent people. They were brilliant. Dean's hexes usually lasted longer but Clint's always hit. His accuracy was scarily good sometimes. He could jinx Gabriel with his eyes closed and his hearing aids out. Then Lucien came flying down the stairs. He paused for breath.

"Clint! I've been looking all over for you! Barney's up in Dumbledore's office right now!"

Clint frowned, stowing his wand. "Why? What did he do?"

Lucien shrugged. "I don't know but Barney looked like he was about to cry when Dumbledore sent me to find you. You've got to go up to Dumbledore's office now."

Clint jumped to his feet and shot off. Lucien watched Clint run up the stairs.

"Dean, Dumbledore said I should bring you with me. He said Clint needed a friend."

Dean gave his friends a worried look but followed Lucien. They ran up the stairs and halted outside the griffin door.

Lucien said, "Chocolate Frogs." and the griffin turned to reveal a staircase.

The two boys ran up it and into the office. Barney and Clint were both sat in chairs opposite Dumbledore who was sat behind his desk. A phoenix was sat on a perch, watching them. Lucien stood next to Barney and Dean stood next to Clint. Dumbledore leaned forwards.

"I'm afraid St Mungo's has messaged me. Your uncle, Alastor Moody has been admitted."

Clint's face tightened and Dean wondered if he was going to cry. Barney seemed more composed.

"How badly injured is he?" asked Barney.

Dean thought he could hear a tremor in his voice. Dumbledore looked even more serious.

"He's lost a huge amount of blood."

Barney slumped in the chair. Clint fell forwards on his chair. Dean barely caught him in time. Clint was shaking and Dean could feel a wet patch starting on his shoulder. Lucien was hugging Barney. Dean tried to imagine how he would feel if it was Bobby in St Mungo's. Eventually Clint sat up but Dean could see the tear tracks on his face. Then a man in the portrait stepped into view.

"Headmaster, Healer Spleen has sent me to come and get Auror Moody's nephews."

Dumbledore turned round. "Why?"

The man in the portrait shuffled slightly and glanced at the four boys in the office. He felt terrible, breaking such grave news in front of children.

"He's taken a turn for the worse Professor. Healer Spleen isn't sure he'll make to the morning."

The redheaded boy gripped the boy stood behind tighter and the blond boy sat down let out a howl and buried his head in his hands.


	11. St Mungo's

Clint had never liked hospitals. He'd spent half his time in them back in America. He followed Barney and the portrait man through the corridors, getting lost almost instantly. They stopped on the fourth floor, at the Auror Ward. A Healer, dressed in lime green with the St Mungo's emblem on his pocket, blocked the doorway.

"I'm sorry; I can't let you go in there. We're dealing with a patient."

The portrait explained, "They're Auror Moody's nephews Healer Spleen."

Healer Spleen nodded and let them in. Clint let out a tiny noise when he saw Uncle Al in a bed, unconscious. He had bandages all over and his leg was resting on one side of the bed. One of the bandages was wrapped over the left side of his face. Clint curled up in the chair and sat there. Barney sat on the other side of the bed. Healer Spleen left to see other patients.

Several Healers and Aurors came to visit Alastor Moody. He was one of the best Aurors in the history of the Ministry. Even the Minister herself came to visit but had to leave since three Death Eaters had just blown up a bridge. The two Bartons got their homework and classwork sent to them via owl and they sent it back the same way. Barney became a common sight in the tea room and round the rest of the hospital. Clint however, never left his uncle's side. He talked a lot, almost incessantly, because he remembered reading a Muggle newspaper three years ago that said doctors had found out that coma patients could hear people and sometimes it gave them a reason to live.

"So me and Dean levitated this girl's bag and then dropped a pot nearby. It was pretty funny but we had to run because Professor McGonagall came along. Gabe thinks we're hilarious. He keeps pranking everyone. It's really funny. What do Aurors need to get in school to be Aurors? What was your favourite lesson? I bet it was Defence, right?"

Eventually Alastor woke up. He had been in a coma for two months. After a few hours in a locked room with Dumbledore he was given a new accessory. A large round magical eye that was strapped in to his left eye socket. It was electric-blue and darted round.

"Couldn't you just wear an eyepatch?" asked Barney.

Alastor snorted. "What good's an Auror that can only see out of one side?"

Clint grinned. "I like it, Mad-Eye."

Alastor ignored but the nickname stuck. Before long, that's what everyone referred to him as, though not to his face. The only ones that got away with that were Clint and Barney. The two Bartons returned to Hogwarts. Naturally they returned in the middle of dinner. But hey, they always did know how to make an entrance.

"Clint!"

"Barney!"

"Welcome back!"

"How's your uncle?!"

"Are you alright?"

"Hey Barney!"

"Where the hell have you been?!"

"Clint!"

Dean waved enthusiastically from the Gryffindor table. Clint gave him a broad grin and waved back. He sat back down at the Hufflepuff table. Wanda greeted him with a smile.

"How's your uncle?"

Clint shrugged. "Catching Death Eaters. What else?"

He wrote to Uncle Al constantly and in one asked if he could change his name. Eventually all the paperwork was filled out and on the registers the teachers no longer called, 'Clint Barton', they called 'Clint Moody.'

**This is just explaining how Mad-Eye got his eye and a few other details. Read and review people!**


	12. Death Eaters on a Train

Clint heaved his trunk onto the baggage holder when Barney caught up to him.

"Hey Clint, I've been looking for you."

Clint turned and gave his older brother a grin. "Why? Gonna go make out with- I mean _hang_ out with Lilith?"

Barney narrowed his eyes. "Don't think I won't hex you. But yeah I'm gonna go _hang_ out with my friends. I'll meet you at the station OK?"

"Sure. See you."

It was the summer holidays, or it was about to be anyway. Dean was already in the carriage, his feet up on the seat. Wanda was curled up in the corner by the door with Gabriel opposite. Pietro reappeared from wherever he'd been and sat next to Wanda. Clint, being an awkward person, usually sat up in the baggage holder.

"So, what are you guys doing over summer?" asked Wanda.

Gabriel shrugged. "Nothing. Father's going to be working so we'll be avoiding each other."

Dean shook his head. "And I thought my family was damaged. I'll be at home, trying to convince Sammy to see the sun and playing basketball."

"We're going on holiday to Germany." said Pietro.

Clint snorted. "Uncle Al doesn't like holidays. So I'll be hanging around Diagon Alley like I do every holiday. Probably in the ice-cream parlour. Florean gives me free ice-creams and helps me with my homework."

Dean glanced up. "I might join you."

"You should."

They'd been travelling for three hours when the train skidded to an abrupt stop. Clint opened the window and stuck his head out. He popped it back in, looking slightly unnerved.

"What?" asked Dean. "Why did the train stop?"

Clint looked down at him. "Because Death Eaters just got on."

"Are you sure?" questioned Wanda, sounding doubtful.

"Since I saw five up close and personal two years ago, yes. I am sure."

Clint sounded irritated and Dean couldn't blame him. Everyone knew that Clint had shot a pair of Death Eaters. The Hufflepuff jumped down from the baggage rack.

"Wands out."

Dean grinned. "Let's go gank some Death Eaters."

A flutter of a grin crossed Clint's face. "That's the spirit."

They headed out of their compartment, moving towards the part with no compartments. The students on the other carriages would just have to look after themselves. Anyway, Clint was pretty sure the seventh-years would be able to deal with Death Eaters. They stepped into the carriage.

Dean whispered to Wanda, Gabriel and Pietro, "Go and find Professor Duquesne. I saw him get on the train at Hogsmeade."

Clint whispered over his shoulder, "I hate to burst your bubble, but I think _that's_ Professor Duquesne."

Dean swore when he realised that it was indeed Professor Duquesne torturing a second-year Ravenclaw girl.

"OK. Change of plan." said Clint quietly. "Go and get an owl. Send it to Hogwarts. The teachers will still be there, right?"

Gabriel, Wanda and Pietro sneaked off and Clint got himself in a better vantage point.

"You take the big blond one, OK? I'll get Duquesne."

Dean nodded. "Right. And if I can't?"

"Set him on fire."

Dean shrugged. Clint counted down from three and then he and Dean jumped to their feet.

"Incendio!" shouted Dean.

"Flipendo!" added Clint.

The jet of fire issuing from Dean's wand caught the big one's cloak. Clint recognised Fenrir Greyback, Duquesne obviously, and Evan Rosier, the wizard that had removed his uncle's eye. The Knockback Jinx hit Duquesne in the back. The teacher went flying through the air and hit the carriage wall.

"You piece of shit!" snarled the one with a twisted face.

Dean spat at his feet before whirling back to the big blond one. Clint then focussed on Duquesne.

"Avada Kedavra!" shouted Duquesne.

Clint dodged the jet of green light and slashed his wand through the air.

"Incendio!"

Duquesne's robes caught fire and, inbetween swearing, "Crucio!"

Clint ducked again. "Stupefy!"

"You don't stand a chance Barton!" sneered Duquesne. "I taught you for a year! I'm an expert in Dark magic you can't even dream of!"

Clint, thinking quickly, countered, "Petrificus Totalus! And it's Moody!"

The curse hit. Duquesne's arms snapped to his side and he keeled onto his back, glaring at Clint.

Dean meanwhile, had been battling Blondie.

"Avada Kedavra!" bellowed Blondie.

"Stupefy! Flipendo! Petrificus Totalus! Expelliarmus! Incendio!"

Blondie's wand flew out of his hand and he was thrown out of the carriage, onto the corridor. Dean spared a glance at Clint who was still duelling Duquesne.

"CRUCIO!" bellowed Blondie, now back.

Dean threw himself to the floor, looked up, lifted his wand arm and locked it.

"Stupefy!"

The Death Eater crumpled to the ground at the same time as Duquesne. Dean scrambled to his feet while Clint whirled on the other three Death Eaters. The students were leaving the carriage in floods, screaming, apart from the unconscious ones or the ones that couldn't move.

"Kids!" snarled Twisted Face.

Greyback narrowed his eyes. "Moody… the Auror's kid?"

Clint shrugged. "Nephew but let's not nitpick."

Dean laughed, keeping his wand trained on Twisted Face. "Which one do you want?"

Evan felt a surprising surge of fear when he saw the fury in the Moody kid's eyes.

"You take Twisted Face. Rosier owes my uncle an eye."

"And the smelly one?"

"We'll share."

The green-eyed boy laughed again. "Deal."

"I owe your uncle an eye?" asked Evan smoothly. "Why don't I take it from you?! Sectumsempra!"

Dean sent a Stunner over, deflecting the curse, before turning back to Twisted Face. He made a slashing motion with his wand and a jet of purple light streamed out. Dean bent over backwards, straightened up and fired back Incendio at both Greyback and Twisted Face.

"Crucio!"

"Stupefy!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

Dean began to blast the Death Eater with jinxes and hexes. "Stupefy! Flipendo! Incendio! Flipendo! Expelliarmus! Locomotor Wibbly! Locomotor Motor! Cerebra Wibbly! **(Jelly-Brain Jinx)** Expelliarmus! Incendio!"

Twisted Face was spending most of his time putting the fires out. Greyback was wobbling round on shaky legs after having flown through a wall.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

The curse hit and Twisted Face toppled over. Dean turned to see a giant hole in the window. Clint was bleeding from a cut across his stomach.

Clint had sent back a Knockback Jinx after Rosier tried to remove his eye.

"Imperio!"

Clint dodged and slashed his wand round. "Stupefy!"

Greyback revived him before being blasted through a wall. Rosier staggered to his feet.

"Sectumsempra!"

Clint felt a slicing pain across his stomach and looked down. Blood was spreading out.

"Flipendo!"

Clint went flying backwards, crashing through a wall and into a compartment. _So that's how that feels._ He scrambled back to his feet, wincing. Rosier was getting closer, his wand lifted to strike.

"Expelliarmus!" shouted Clint.

The wand flew out of Rosier's hand. The Death Eater then smashed the window to his right and jumped out. Clint stumbled back into the main part of the carriage and saw Twisted Face crumple.

"Nice one."

Dean looked concerned but Clint ignored that. It felt like his stomach was trying to slice itself apart. Then Greyback entered the room, holding two wands in his hand.

"Avada Kedavra!"

The two spells flew towards Dean and Clint, who dived to the sides.

"Stupefy!"

Greyback glanced behind him to see a new boy appearing. Clint recognised Remus, the seventh-year werewolf in Gryffindor, approach with his wand out. Greyback snarled. The spells began to fly, thick and fast.

"Incendio!"

"Stupefy!"

"Crucio!"

"Petrificus Totalus!"

"Locomotor Wibbly!"

"Locomotor Mortis!"

"Avada Kedavra!"

"Incendio!"

"Expelliarmus!"

The fight continued, each combatant ducking and diving. Greyback eventually tumbled under three Stunning Spells. Then three more Death Eaters appeared. Clint didn't recognise them at all and at that moment in time he didn't really care.

"Revive the idiots." snapped one.

There was a blinding flash of light and Clint found himself sprawled on the floor, lying on his back. Dean was next to him. Clint was vaguely aware of the fact that his stomach was still bleeding, he had a throbbing pain on the back of his head and a shard of glass was digging in his leg. All in all, he'd been more comfortable. They lay there for what felt like days but was actually only a couple of minutes.

"Remus!"

"Rems!"

"Moony!"

"REMUS!"

Remus could hear his friends yelling to him. Sirius appeared first and crouched next to him. The werewolf sat up slowly, gripping onto Sirius for support. The other boy helped him to his feet and ruffled his hair.

"You really worried me Rems." said Sirius, half-laughing.

Remus gave him a weak smile in return. Sirius was confused about what had actually happened in the carriage. There were a few knocked out second-years, three broken windows and someone had gone through a wall into a compartment. There were a few other dents in the wall and it looked like there'd been one hell of fight. A hawk was circling and landed on Remus' shoulder. It looked nervous.

"What's the deal with the bird?" asked James, having finally appeared.

Sirius frowned. "I think it belongs to the Hufflepuff kid that's always hanging out with Dean Winchester."

Remus' face paled. "Dean and his friend were here! They were fighting by the time I got here. They must still be in the carriage."

The hawk chirped, sounding strangely delighted, and then swooped off to land by the demolished compartment. Sirius followed it over to discover two boys. One was Dean, apparently unconscious. The other was the Hufflepuff who was staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes. He looked stunned and he was bleeding quite badly from a cut on his stomach and a gash in his leg.

"Hi." said Sirius. "Are you OK?"

The Hufflepuff looked at him blankly before horror took over. He very slowly lifted his arm to touch his ear. Shards of something that looked like glass came out. Sirius felt incredibly sorry for the kid. He looked like a cool guy with spiked sandy hair and blue-grey eyes that were filled with tears.

"Dean? Barney?"

Remus crouched down next to Sirius and cleared the glass out of his ears. James was frowning.

"If Dean's the kid next to him, who's Barney?"

Unsurprisingly, Lily answered. "Barney Barton. He's a fourth-year Slytherin." When Sirius gave her a puzzled look she shrugged and explained, "Snape told me about him and when I was in the Slytherin common room I saw a redhead boy showing Michael's brother a photo of him."

James headed off to find Barney Barton while Remus helped the Hufflepuff sit up. Sirius had dubbed him Hawk Boy due to the necklace round his neck and the fact that the hawk wouldn't leave him alone. Eventually Dean woke up.

"Ow. So I think we ganked some Death Eaters Clint." Then he turned and realised four seventh-years were staring at him. "Clint, wanna fill me in?"

Sirius glanced at Hawk Boy. "Hawk Boy is Clint?"

"Yes." snapped Dean, levering himself upright and crouching in front of Clint. "Hey buddy, you OK?"

Clint looked at him and made several rapid-fire hand motions. Dean narrowed his eyes and mouthed something. Then he did some hand movement and Clint repeated his only slower. Understanding fell over Dean's face.

"What's up with him?" asked Sirius.

Dean sat next to Clint, holding his hand lightly. That confused Sirius. Twelve-year-olds holding hands? That was weird.

"So… hand-holding." offered Sirius after several awkward minutes of silence. "And hand jiving. Any explanation?"

Dean bristled. "He's deaf. His hearing aids are broken. The hand jiving, as you fucking pure-blood bastards put it, is called American Sign Language. The hand-holding is so that I can be comfier while letting him know I'm still here. Any other fucking stupid questions to ask?"

Sirius blinked and was keenly aware of Remus half-smiling. He felt stupid now and a little offended that Dean seemed to think he was being deliberately insensitive.

"No-one's trying to offend you or him Dean." placated Remus. "Sirius just didn't realise he was being an insensitive prat."

Dean snorted. Clint squeezed Dean's arm and signed something at him. Dean responded and Clint laughed. He turned to Sirius, signed something and then actually hand-jived. The Gryffindor first-year was smirking.

"He's pointing out the difference between signing and hand-jiving."

James reappeared. "The Aurors are here!"


	13. Flashbacks

"The Aurors are here!"

Those four words filled Dean with joy. If the Aurors were here then so was Clint's Uncle Al. (Dean hadn't quite managed to adjust to calling him Mad-Eye.) And he'd know what to do about Clint's hearing aids. James stuck his head out of the broken window.

"They're summoning everyone out of the train. We'd better go. Padfoot, let's get the unconscious ones out of here. Remus, can you help Dean? Lily, go and check the rest of the corridors for unconscious people, please."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "_She_ gets a 'please'. Come on Rems."

Clint copied Dean and scrambled to his feet. Dean began signing and explaining that the Aurors were here. Clint managed a brief grin. He was fighting off flashbacks in his head, of the time he'd lost his hearing.

"_Cwint!"_

"_Dad! Get off him! Ah!"_

"_Don't tell me what to do boy!"_

"_Harold, please!"_

Dean winced next to Clint, making him realise that he'd tightened his grip on the other boy's hand.

"Sorry."

Dean gave him a smile and managed to sign, "Are you OK?"

Clint signed back, "Flashbacks. Bad times."

Dean didn't push the issue, knowing his friend would tell him if and when he was ready. The other kids were milling around, looking shaken and faintly terrified. He spotted Gabriel stood by Michael and Lucien while Wanda and Pietro were huddled together. The Aurors were dotted round, Apparating people away in family groups. Dean couldn't see Barney anywhere until he saw him talking to Lilith and Crowley.

"Barney!"

Clint felt Dean pull him so he followed. His mind was still whirling and flashbacks kept popping up to the surface. Then he stopped. Dean was stood next to him and Barney was on his other side. The Slytherin didn't look overjoyed to see him but Clint didn't notice. He flung his arms round Barney and squeezed him as tight as he could.

"Hearing... fallen... knocked... sore... stomach... bleeding... flashback... sky."

Barney grimaced as he disentangled Clint. His younger brother's face was streaked with tears and he was rambling about nonsense. He knew what was going on. Clint had done it straight after the car crash that killed their parents. He'd lost his hearing aids and started having flashbacks to the time he lost his hearing. Or rather, to the time his hearing had been kicked out of him.

"Sky?" asked Dean, looking completely confused.

"Our younger sister." Barney managed. "She... she got taken away from us at the hospital. They said Uncle Alastor wouldn't be able to look after three."

Then an Auror came over. Barney recognised him as King, Clint's favourite Auror after Uncle Alastor.

"Alright, Barney, Clint, I'm taking you back to Platform 9 ¾. Dean, grab my hand as well."

Dean held Clint's hand as well as the Auror's and they Apparated back to the platform. Alastor Moody was stood there, looking terrified and holding a little girl's hand. Clint let out a wordless yell of delight and shot over to the girl, hugging her tightly. Barney headed over and gave Alastor a weary hug before turning to the girl. Dean followed but hung back slightly, unsure of whether or not to say hi.

"This is Skye." said Barney, sounding tired. "Skye, this is Dean."

Skye was about six with long brown hair and big brown eyes. She reminded Dean of Clint but he couldn't work out why.

"Hello."

She, like Clint, had a thick American accent and a thousand-watt smile. Clint was hugging Alastor now, signing wildly.

"Alright, alright. We'll take you to St Mungo's now. Dean, Bobby's over there."

Dean shot over to Bobby. "Hey."

"What the hell happened?"

"We were attacked by Death Eaters. Me and Clint got four of them. And Remus helped us get the other one."

Bobby glared at him and Sam blinked. "You bloody idjit! Didja think about how dangerous that was?!"

"No. People were in danger."

Bobby's jaw worked for a while but he said nothing, just snorting and dragging the pair of them off. The luggage was dropped off by Aurors over the next few days.

Clint suffered through being refitted for his hearing by a kindly Healer. The Healer was actually suffocating him every time she reached to make an adjustment. Barney was in the tearoom, stating that he needed a drink. Uncle Al stayed with him and Skye, his eye roving over everything.

"Why does Uncle Al have odd eyes?" asked Skye.

Clint glanced down at his little sister and felt a wave of happiness wash over him. Skye had been taken away from them at the hospital, something about Uncle Al not being able to cope with three children. Hah. And now she was back with them. According to the lip-reading he'd been able to pick up between Barney and Uncle Al, Uncle Al had gone over to America to find out why Skye hadn't been brought over two years ago. There'd been a lot of fights, a few hexes, several swear words and two Confundus Charms until Dumbledore had appeared and sorted it.

"Because a bad guy took the other one."

Skye wrinkled her nose. "Eww! Who wants an extra eye?"

Clint laughed. "He's a bad guy Skye. They aren't known for their mental stability."

"What?"

"They're crazy."

"Oh."


	14. Summer

**So yeah, I was gonna put Skye in earlier but I forgot hence the addition now.**

Clint was in his room, examining the cut along his stomach. It had been healed, thanks to the Healer at St Mungo's but there was still a thin silver line to go with all the others he had. There was a knock on the door and Skye stuck her head round it.

"Clint?"

"Hey sweetie. What's up?"

"Uncle Al says breakfast's ready."

Clint got to his feet and followed his sister down the stairs. Barney was in the middle of eating. Clint sat next to Skye and accepted the plate of food off Uncle Al.

Barney stopped chewing for a moment to look at Clint judgmentally and announce, "You look like Hell."

Clint gave him a mock-glare. "I think you're looking in the mirror and confusing us again."

Barney smirked and carried on eating. Uncle Al sat down as well, diving into his own food.

"So, I'm going to Lil's for a few days." said Barney. "I think Crowley and Luc are coming over as well."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Won't they cramp your style?"

"Do you want a kick?"

Uncle Al interceded, "Boys, behave. What about you Clint?"

The younger boy shrugged. "Dunno. I'm gonna hang out with Dean at the Leaky Cauldron and Florean's over the summer."

"Can I come?" asked Skye.

"Sure thing."

So they dressed and Lilith's father appeared to Apparate Barney off. Uncle Al had to work so he Apparated into the Ministry, leaving Clint responsible for locking up. He held Skye's hand as they headed to Diagon Alley.

"You been before?"

"Nu-uh."

Clint pushed the door to the Leaky Cauldron open and scanned the room. A few of the regulars were in, all looking jumpier than usual. Dedalus Diggle in particular kept nearly knocking his drink over.

"Morning Clint. How was Hogwarts?"

"Great, if you ignore the Death Eaters that attacked us yesterday. This is my sister Skye by the way."

Tom smiled slightly. Clint had a big mouth but the regulars adored him and most of them bought him food and Butterbeer when he was in. He had a suspicion Skye was going to be just as popular.

"Where are we going?" chirped Skye.

"Hang on. Three bricks up, two left... I think."

Clint tapped the brick and it was, miraculously, the right one. The bricks melted away and Clint stepped through the archway, grinning at the expression on Skye's face. She looked like Christmas and her birthday had come early. Clint led the way down to Magical Menagerie to buy some more food for Apollo. Seriously, with the amount the hawk ate it was a wonder he wasn't the same weight as Clint. Skye was hopping up and down with excitement.

"What does that say?"

"Ollivander's Wand Shop."

"Can I have a wand?!"

Clint grinned. "No. You have to be eleven."

Skye started pouting but soon cheered up when they arrived in Florean's ice-cream parlour. She was amazed by everything in Diagon Alley. It was like everything she'd ever dreamed of ever.

"Hey Skye, focus. What ice-cream do you want?"

"Any!"

Clint shrugged and turned back to the nice man at the counter. "Two chocolate ice-creams with raspberry sauce and chopped hazelnuts please."

"There you go. One each."

Skye dived into hers, completely unaware that she now had ice-cream and sauce all over her face. Clint laughed and wiped it off when she'd finished. Uncle Al gave him a certain amount of money to spend as and how Clint pleased as long as he and Skye had a proper meal.

"Come on, Leaky Cauldron."

Clint got through all of his homework in the first week even if he did get a considerable amount of help from the vendors around Diagon Alley. The best part was no Defence homework. Having been revealed as a Death Eater, Duquesne had been fired and Uncle Al was out looking for him.

On the second week he sent Apollo off with a letter tied round his foot asking if Dean wanted to come to Diagon Alley with Sam. The red-tail returned almost immediately with an answer to the effect that yes, Dean would very much like to go to Diagon Alley.

Barney came home the day Clint and Skye were due to meet Dean and Sam. He didn't seem too bothered by the fact that he would be in the house on his own, just handing over his pocket money and starting his homework. Apollo perched on Clint's shoulder as they made their way to the Leaky Cauldron. They grabbed a seat and were bickering lightly when Dean and Sam turned up.

"Hey Clint. This is Sammy, Sammy this is Clint."

"Hey Dean. This is Skye, Skye this is Dean."

Sammy and Skye smiled at each other. Sam was about ten with brown hair and big brown eyes, like Skye. Dean sat next to Clint.

"So what do we do now?" asked Dean.

Clint shrugged. "We wander, we annoy shopkeepers, we bargain with street sellers."

The quartet got to their feet and headed into the actual alley. They ducked into Flourish and Botts for a book for Sam.

"Nerd." said Dean affectionately.

"I like reading. I'm not a nerd." said Sam.

It sounded like they'd had this discussion before. At one point Dean and Skye ran ahead to drool over a broomstick. Skye was fascinated by the mini-models that were flying all by themselves. Sam stopped at a street seller's stall. He seemed fascinated with the jewellery.

"You wanna buy it kid or not?" sneered the seller.

"Hey Dung-head, shut it." snapped Clint.

Fletcher glared at him before leaning back in his chair. Sam moved to the one next door and Fletcher gave Clint another black look. Sam picked up an amulet.

"Do you think Dean would like it?"

Clint glanced over. "Yeah. How much is it?"

The seller, an unshaven man Clint had met a few times looked unimpressed. "Five Galleons."

Sam looked up. "I only have one."

Clint snorted. "Five Sickles."

The man narrowed his eyes. "Four Galleons."

"Ten Sickles."

"Three Galleons."

"Fifteen Sickles."

"Two Galleons."

"One Galleon."

The man seemed to think carefully. "A Galleon and fifteen Sickles."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "One. Galleon."

"A Galleon and ten Sickles."

"Read my lips man, one Galleon, not a Knut more."

The man grumpily conceded, relieving Sam of a Galleon and handing the amulet over. Clint and Sam caught up to Dean and Skye. Sam began explaining the rules of Quidditch to a wide-eyed Skye. Dean and Clint began arguing about different brooms. Clint maintained that the Comets were better while Dean preferred the Cleansweeps.

"I wanna be a Seeker!" declared Skye.

Dean grinned. "I'd rather be a Beater."

"Yeah, you're too big to be anything else. Except maybe a Keeper. You could block all three posts. OW!" yelped Clint as he dodged out of Dean's reach. He was still laughing when he said, "Did you hear about Barney? He's a Chaser for the Slytherin team."

Dean nodded. "Awesome. Next year I'll be able to send a Bludger his way. I'm gonna be a Beater for Gryffindor."

Clint's grin widened. "And I'll be able to send you a Bludger cos I'm gonna be a Beater for Hufflepuff."

The two looked at each and started laughing. They spent the rest of the day eating free ice-creams at Florean's.

The summer was the best one Clint had ever had. He divided his time between Diagon Alley and Uncle Al's back garden. He hung out in Florean's and the Leaky Cauldron with Skye, bought the rest of his school supplies and got into an argument with Skye as to why she couldn't buy a freaking broomstick. He climbed the tree in Uncle Al's back garden and practising hexing and jinxing Barney and Uncle Al. He also practiced his archery for hours at a time. Skye tried to join in but she preferred holding it sideways so Clint procured a crossbow for her. All in all, it was freaking awesome.


	15. Quidditch

Clint glanced around nervously. There were dozens of eager Hufflepuffs waiting to try out plus there was only one Beater position available because the captain, Tony DiNozzo, was a Beater as well.

"Hey kid, try not to be too disappointed when you lose." sneered a seventh-year.

Clint shot back, "Yeah it'll be pretty humiliating for you to lose out to a second-year."

The seventh-year's face twitched and Clint was fairly sure he was about to get punched. But then Tony called everything to order.

"Alright, Chasers first."

Clint sat on one of the spectator benches with Wanda and watched a few crash into each other and the hoops.

"Nervous?" asked Wanda.

Clint glanced over and gave her a nervous grin. "Who me? Nah. More like terrified. Second-years almost never get on the team."

"Dean did."

"True. Anything Deanna does I can do, right?"

Wanda gave him a reassuring smile. "I wasn't gonna say that but sure."

Clint nodded. The three Chasers were picked. Two of them had been on the team last year, Stephen Jameson and Cara Coburn, while the third girl, Astrid Finch, was new. The Seekers were up next. Clint watched, wondering idly if he would actually throw up. Tony looked like he was about to hit someone. Eventually the Seeker, Russell Kwon was picked. He was the quickest on the field as well as one of the loudest. The choice for Keeper was obvious. John Young was the star of the Quidditch team last year.

"Alright! Beaters! Grab a bat and a helmet! I'm not scraping you off the ground when you get hurt!" yelled Tony.

Clint grinned at Wanda and ran over to Tony. The sixth-year gave him a quick reassuring smile before turning.

"Alright, the Bludgers are gonna come flying at you. Hit them at someone."

So everyone mounted their brooms and shot into the air. Clint's broom was vibrating. God he hated the school brooms. Tony whacked the Bludger in his direction. Clint took his aim and smashed it towards the asshole that had sneered at him earlier. It made direct contact and the asshole barely stopped himself plummeting to the ground.

"Nice one!" called Tony.

Eventually they landed back on the ground. Clint was almost disappointed.

"Alright, Hufflepuff's team this year will be the fantastic me, Stephen Jameson, Astrid Finch, Cara Coburn, John Young, Russell Kwon and Clint Barton." Clint broke into a grin. Tony continued, "Practice will be Friday, straight after classes. Let's get off the pitch people!"

So they did. Clint and Wanda headed up to the alcove where Dean was lounging next to Clint's seat.

"Guess who's a Beater for Hufflepuff?!"

Dean lifted his hand to high-five him. "Nice one Clint!"

Pietro grinned. "Good job. Just, try not to kill Barney huh?"

Clint laughed. "Are you kidding? He'll probably kill me first."

"You know you can't use a school broom, right?" said Dean urgently. "Those things are beyond bad. I wrote a letter home to Bobby telling him that I was on the Quidditch team. He hasn't replied yet."

Clint scrawled out his own letter and sent it home. Barney didn't seem too impressed.

_Hi Uncle Al and Skye,_

_The boy writing this is a Beater for Hufflepuff! I got on the team! The rest of the team is really cool and practice is going pretty good. Tony, that's DiNozzo, the captain, says I could be the captain one year, after he leaves! That would be so cool!_

_Love you both lots and lots _

_Clint xxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

The next morning, two teams of six owls appeared bearing heavy packages. One was dropped off at the Gryffindor table, the other at the Hufflepuff table. They were both broomsticks. Since it was a Saturday both of them shot outside to play, I mean, practise.

"What broom is it?" asked Gabriel, full of excitement and broomsticks' statistics.

Dean opened his and grinned. "It's an Oakshaft 79 dude!"

Gabriel spouted, "They go at top speeds of 100 miles an hour, are considered very resilient but not as agile as the Cleansweep or the Comet. Could be classed as a vintage broom. What did you get Clint?"

Clint didn't answer straight away. He was reading the note attached to the package.

_Congratulations. Enjoy!_

_Uncle Al __**and Skye!**_

"Dude, what's the broom?" yelled Dean.

Clint pocketed the note and opened the package.

"A Silver Arrow!"

Gabriel's jaw actually dropped. "Wow! That's one of the best brooms around. It goes at like 150 miles an hour! Mad-Eye must have spent a fortune!"

Clint laughed and mounted the broom. Dean jumped on his. The two of them took off and began swooping over the lake. Clint wondered if he could practise shooting his bow at targets on the broom. He already knew he had almost perfect night vision.

"Hey Clint, race you to the pitches and back!" shouted Dean.

"Five Sickles!" Clint called back.

Dean gave him a thumbs-up and the two took off. Clint swerved to avoid an owl from the Owlery and almost fell. Dean glanced over but didn't slow down as he carried on. Clint swore under his breath, righted himself and shot after Dean. The Gryffindor reached the Quidditch pitch a second before Clint and spun round, passing him with a grin and yelling, "See you later Claire!"

"Not on your life Deanna." muttered Clint, slewing round and following.

He managed to beat Dean back by five seconds. Dean dismounted and rolled his eyes.

"I am the champion, you are the loser, nothing matters cos I am the champion... of the wooorld!" sang Clint triumphantly.

Dean gave him a smile and headed off to put his broomstick away. Clint flew up to his dorm. He always kept the window open so Apollo could get in and out easily. He'd been banned from the Owlery after he'd tried to eat a Scops owl. But anyway, moving on. Clint slid through the window, dismounted his broom and then shot off down the stairs. The others were sat in the alcove talking animatedly. As usual, Clint clambered up into the highest part and let his legs dangle down.

"First Quidditch match is Hufflepuff versus Slytherin." said Pietro eagerly. "We are so gonna beat you."

Clint retorted, "The hell you are."

Wanda laughed. "We bet six Sickles on the match. So you have to win."

Gabriel grinned. "That's nothing. I've got a Galleon riding on Clint knocking someone off their broom."

Clint grinned. "All the pressure. What about you Dean? You bet on my awesomeness on the Quidditch pitch?"

Dean nodded. "Two Galleons on you hitting Barney."

"Good. When's the match?"

Stephen was passing the alcove and turned. "Saturday next week. Did you not listen at the end of last practice?"

"Stephen, don't be silly."

Stephen shook his head laughing and headed off. Clint pulled out his harmonica, which he kept with him at all times just in case he needed to annoy someone, and started playing. They hung out for the rest of the day, doing some homework and laughing whenever Clint jinxed someone. Dean didn't join in.

_Saturday, next week..._

"Clint, wake up!"

Clint bolted upright to see John, wearing his Keeper outfit, leaning against the bedpost. He was tall with messy blond hair and stubble.

"Come on, get dressed! Match day."

Clint dressed as quickly as he could, grabbed the Silver Arrow and followed John downstairs. The sixth-year appeared completely relaxed.

"You aren't stressed at all?"

"No." replied John easily. "It's not like Slytherin have any decent Chasers."

Cara kicked him under the table. "John! Clint's brother's a Chaser."

"So?"

Russell rolled his eyes at Tony. "Even I have more social skills than him."

John gave his friend a black look before starting his breakfast. Stephen and Astrid appeared, looking slightly ruffled.

"Had some fun?" asked Tony, smirking.

Astrid blushed and sat next to Clint, giving him a smile. Stephen rolled his eyes and sat next to Cara.

"Yeah. Ow!"

Stephen winced as Astrid kicked him under the table. Clint glanced over at Tony who looked close to yelling at them. He was distracted by the arrival of the Slytherin team captain, Ziva David.

"DiNozzo."

"David. Looking beautiful as ever."

John's scowl vanished as he muttered to Tony, "Quit playing with fire or the kid'll have to deal with two Beaters all by himself."

Tony ignored his friend, switching all his attention onto Ziva. She was beautiful, supposed Clint, with long black hair that she kept in a plait or a ponytail thing and sharp brown eyes. She wore a star made out of two triangles.

"What's the star?" asked Clint.

Everyone turned to look at him and he instantly wished he could disappear through the floor. Tony was half-smiling half-giving him an are-you-freaking-crazy-why-would-you-ask-that-you're-going-to-die look. Ziva smiled.

"It's a Star of David, the symbol of my religion."

"Oh. That's cool."

"What's with the bird?" she asked, smiling.

Clint glanced down at the hawk necklace that he'd forgotten to tuck beneath his robes. He hadn't taken it off since he'd got it last Christmas.

"It was a present."

Ziva smiled, gave Tony a kiss on the mouth and left. Clint could feel his jaw drop open. Cara took pity on him and explained.

"Tony and Ziva are dating. Oh look, here come the Claws."

The Claws turned out to be a pair of sixth-year Ravenclaws, obviously, one boy and one girl. The boy looked clever with short brown hair and a wide grin. The girl had black hair and a tattoo on the back of her neck.

"Tony!" squealed the girl, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Abs! Abby! Can't breathe!" gasped Tony.

Abby let go and beamed at him. "Good luck! I mean, I bet McGee five Sickles for Slytherin to win but you don't mind do you? No, course not. Anyway, McGee bet on Hufflepuff so that's all cool. Ooh! I have to go wish Ziva good luck!"

Abby shot off, leaving the boy, presumably McGee.

"So McGoo, you bet for me? I never thought I'd say this to you, but good choice." said Tony, grinning.

McGee rolled his eyes. "Shut up Tony. Just win and tell Gibbs. He might be a little nicer."

"Unlikely. He's an Auror, right? Anyway it's your fault for dating his precious daughter."

"Then why doesn't Ziva get glared at for dating his son?"

Tony shrugged. "I do not presume to understand the Gibbs-man's mind."

John explained this time, once McGee had left. Gibbs was Abby and Tony's adoptive father, an Auror, like Uncle Al. McGee was dating Abby and Ziva was dating Tony. Not a lot to talk about. Clint finished his breakfast just as Wanda and Dean came over.

"Good luck Clint!" said Wanda, grinning. "You have to win so I can get the money off Pietro!"

Dean smiled. "Yeah Claire. Kick the snakes' asses."

Clint's brow furrowed. "Do snakes have asses?"

Dean mimicked his frown. "No idea. Just beat them.

"You got it Deanna."

The two of them mock-glared at each other before Clint headed off after the rest of his team. As they passed Wanda, Pietro, Gabriel and Dean, Dean shot his hand out and gave Clint a light squeeze. Clint gave him a nervous grin and ran after the team. Astrid gave him a brief grin and they stood behind the doors. Tony cracked his neck.

"Alright team, we are the best. Remember that and it's all cool. Russell, try and get the Snitch straight away."

Russell snorted. "You don't say."

Tony ignored him and continued, "Chasers, don't let them get the Quaffle. Clint, whack the Seeker and Chasers. I'll shoot for the Keeper and Beaters."

Clint grinned toothily. "I can do that."

They walked out and faced the Slytherins. Barney glared at Clint while the captains shook hands.

"Go!" shouted Madam Hooch.

The players took off into the air. Clint adjusted his grip on the bat and looked around. Russell was swooping all over the place with the Slytherin Seeker, Ziva, doing the same thing. A Bludger went flying towards John and Clint zoomed forwards. He measured his hit and then smashed the iron ball away, watching it sail towards Lilith who was a Chaser. It smashed into her back and she tumbled downwards. Barney swore viciously and threw the Quaffle through the hoop.

"That's ten points to Slytherin!" announced whoever was doing the commentating. "And that was a fairly vicious hit from Hufflepuff's new Beater Clint Moody."

Clint stopped paying attention and started hitting. Before long it become apparent that his aim wasn't just limited to archery. One of the Beaters, Fred Dukes, smashed the Bludger straight at Tony who barely managed to roll in time. Dukes then used his bat to whack Tony. The Captain almost fell off his broom before managing to pull to the side and examine his head wound. Clint narrowed his eye and hit the Bludger, not waiting to see it hit its target.

"Merlin's beard, Moody knows what he's doing! That's one hell of a hit! And it's given Jameson the chance to shoot the Quaffle and it goes in! It's forty-thirty to Hufflepuff!" shouted the announcer.

"Russell!" yelled Tony, now back in the game. "Get the bloody Snitch!"

Russell shouted back, "I'm trying!"

Clint slewed his broom round and yelled, "JOHN! BLUDGER!"

The Keeper ducked the homicidal ball and Clint shot after it, hitting it into Ziva. The Slytherin almost fell, righted herself and screamed at the Beaters to watch the Bludgers. The game continued for what like barely anything as Clint continued to seriously injure the Slytherin team. Then he saw a golden opportunity to hit Barney. A Bludger was careening towards him. Clint summoned every bit of strength he had and whacked the Bludger, zooming after it, ready to deflect it from his teammates. It smashed straight into Barney's face.

"BLOODY HELL!" shouted the commentator. "Moody just smashed the Bludger straight into his brother's face! Looks like DiNozzo put together a good team! Finally."

There was a roar of indignation from the yellow-and-black side of the stands. Then Russell pulled himself up, his fist raised triumphantly.

"Kwon's caught the Snitch! That's 190-70 to Hufflepuff! Hufflepuff win!"

The team landed on the ground triumphantly. Russell was fist-pumping the air, the Snitch still in his hand. Stephen and Astrid were celebrating with each other, very intimately. Cara looked like she wanted to do the same thing with John but stopped herself.

Tony shouted, "Moody, get your ass down here!"

Clint swooped down and dismounted his broom.

"Nice work kid! That shot to Barton's face, wow!" laughed Tony, grinning. "You are _so_ invited to the team party! Bring a friend, hell bring all your friends!"

"Do they have to be from Hufflepuff?"

"No!"

They got changed and headed back towards the common room. Pietro and Wanda appeared, Pietro scowling.

"That was awesome Clint!" gushed Wanda.

"Yeah. Awesome." added Pietro, sounding less than sincere.

"Tonee! You made me lose a Galleon to McGee!"

Gabriel appeared. "Nice one Clint! That hit to Barney! He's gonna be so mad at you."

Then Dean came over. He looked less than delighted despite the fact that he'd just won two Galleons.

"Oh, Tony says you're all invited to the team party if you're with me."

"Awesome!"

"We'll be there!"

"I will do this to represent my house." added Pietro, a smile gracing his face.

"Dean?"

Dean shifted on his feet awkwardly. "Clint, we need to talk."


End file.
